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We greet you, dear friends, in
the name of Christ our Lord, our Savior, and our coming King,
the Sovereign of the Universe, and the God of history and of
human destiny. The Lord Jesus Christ made it
very clear to his disciples that history does not simply move
in circles, it moves toward a predetermined, glorious, divine goal. And like a mighty river, all
of history and human activity under God's providence is aimed
at that ultimate display of the unique, magnificent person of
our Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming. But students of the Bible are
thoroughly aware of the fact that the second coming of Christ
is a mixed blessing, to put it mildly. In fact, for the vast
majority of human beings, it is a total disaster. The Old
Testament scripture, over and over again, speaks of the coming
of the Messiah to establish his kingdom on this earth as a time
of separation of the righteous from the wicked, a time of decision
for those who have yet to make their peace with God. In Psalm
2, for instance, Jesus Christ, in anticipation, prophetically,
a thousand years before his first coming, describes what's going
to happen at the inauguration of what we call the fourth world
of Bible history and prophecy, his kingdom on earth. Listen
to his words. I will declare the decree, the
Lord has said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. Ask of me and I will give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost part of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
That's not a missionary verse, it's a promise of global catastrophe
under God's judgment of the nation. One half millennium later, God
gave that same truth from a different perspective to the great mighty
golden head, namely Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And Daniel interpreted
his dream for him as he saw one night in his sleep suddenly looming
before him a gigantic spectacular human image with head of gold
and arms of silver, belly size of brass and legs of iron and
feet of clay. And as he watched in that vision
dream, all of a sudden from the third heaven descended rapidly
to earth beneath a stone coming a tremendous force that suddenly
smashed the image, pulverized it, wind came and blew all the
pieces away. And the stone became larger and
larger and filled the world. That is the second coming of
Christ, as seen by Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel. When
the Lord Jesus Christ, a half millennium after that, finally
came to earth, offering to Israel her kingdom, rejected by his
people, his own, crucified upon a cross. He explained to the
nation, as well as to his own disciples, that that was only
phase one of his appearances on earth and phase two would
bring total destruction to all those who had rejected his claim
and resisted the gracious convicting work of the Holy Spirit through
his divine word. The Bible tells us that when
Christ comes back to this earth The vast majority of men, then,
even as at the first coming, will deny him and reject his
claim and his promise to return. And thus, tragically, this great
third world that has now existed for thousands of years since
the flood, with God's progressive self-revelation, in the form
of covenants and theophanies and promises and miracles and
finally incarnation, atonement and resurrection and the launching
of his true church upon the sea of humanity will at last come
to one stupendous global catastrophe. Namely, the Great Tribulation. Jesus anticipated what that will
be like in his Olivet Discourse when he said to his disciples
one day, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when
the Son of Man returns. In those days, total self-centered
demonism. Until the flood came and destroyed
them all. In that day, the same thing will
happen. Men will blaspheme the living
God rather than to surrender to his sovereign claim, no matter
how horrible their sufferings will be at his hand. And furthermore,
it'll be the hour of darkness for Satan on a global scale as
he kills God's two witnesses in Jerusalem, as he persecutes
the remnant of believing Israelites as he destroys tens, hundreds
of thousands, perhaps millions of those who are one to the living
Christ by faith through the witness of the 144,000 whom God will
seal for that purpose in that day. He will unveil his masterpiece,
a resuscitated diabolical incarnation of the
satanic trinity. And with his henchmen the false
prophet who will cause all men to worship the image established
in the Temple of Jerusalem of the beast, the Antichrist himself. It will be a time of horror,
indescribable, incomparable. And yet, that deep, deep darkness
in which the world as we know it will come to an end is merely
the backdrop for the greatest brightness the world will ever
have known since creation. God's Word tells us that that
coming great fourth world, which is the world of Christ's thousand-year
kingdom on Earth, is an event that will be seen
by every human being who still survives on planet Earth. Jesus
said it won't be something that will happen secretly in the desert
or inside some secret chamber somewhere because as the lightning
flashes from one end of heaven to the other every eye shall
see him and they that pierced him and they will mourn for him
as one mourns for an only son. Every person will see Christ
returning to some special provision that God will make to unveil
the beauty and the dignity and the glory of his beloved son. Following the battle of Armageddon,
described in Revelation 16 and 19, the Bible says that Christ
will, quote, sit on the throne of his glory, and before him
shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goat, Matthew
25. And then, after this eternal
separation of believers from unbelievers on the earth, through
what we may call the rapture to judgment. Two in one bed,
one taken the other left. Two in one seal, one taken the
other left. And Jesus explained it's not the rapture of the church
at all. The rapture of the church is not described by Jesus. Paul
said it's a mystery, hidden until his day. Jesus is describing
an opposite rapture. He said, as it was in the days
of Noah, when the flood came and took them all away. took
who away? The wicked. And the righteous
remained alive on earth to repopulate the post-flood world. So at the
second coming, one will be taken away. Where? To judgment, leaving
the believing living survivor to enter the kingdom and repopulate
the world. The rapture to judgment. When
that eternal separation takes place, then the great Desire of our
Lord expressed in the upper room discourse to his own disciples
will at last take place He said I have longed To drink the fruit
of the vine new with you in my father's kingdom This of course
was prophesied 700 years earlier by the prophet Isaiah who says
that the great kingdom age will be inaugurated with a stupendous
banquet and as God will gather his people to celebrate the inauguration
of his kingdom. Jesus described it this way,
many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So you see, resurrected and glorified
Old Testament saints raised from the dead after the tribulation
period will join together with raptured, resurrected, glorified
Christians in the true Church, the Bride of Christ, returning
to earth to inaugurate the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. What
will Christ do during that great kingdom age? I personally feel
it's a mistake to visualize the Lord Jesus as being a permanent
earth dweller. during that age, visible at all
times, accessible at all times to Earth's people. Believers
though they may be. I take this from the analogy
of our Lord, phase one of glorified Earth. Instruction. Involvement with human beings
not glorified. Namely, the 40 days after his
resurrection from the dead. What did he do? Did he just stay
with his disciples, night and day, available, accessible at
all times, visible to them? No. During that 40-day period,
he was mostly invisible and appeared on special occasions, shocking,
surprising, thrilling his disciples when he did appear, to instruct
them with never-to-be-forgotten words. And I take this as my
hint, my analogy, my illustration, my comparison and parallel to
what will be true of the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. Namely,
mostly invisible to mortal believing earth dwellers who will enter
that kingdom, but at the beginning, at the inaugural fellowship banquet,
and on special occasions from year to year, especially I believe
at the Feast of Tabernacles, which means dwelling with. Christ will be here. in Jerusalem,
the official center of his earth government, to be seen, admired
by those who love him and worship him. I believe, therefore, that on
those occasions we will find the fulfillment of Isaiah 33,
17. Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty. That is God's promise of what
he will do to end this world that we know and to usher in
the kingdom age that's coming. Now what will angels be doing
during that coming kingdom age? The world of Christ's thousand-year
reign. I believe that the ruling function
that angels, both righteous and wicked, perform today will permanently
come to an end at the beginning of the millennium. We certainly
know that's true of Satan and demons, don't we? Paul said in
Romans 16 concerning Satan, God will bruise him under your feet
shortly. And at the second coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet
will meet their match in the person of our Lord. Can't you
just sense the enormity of the confrontation at the second coming
of Christ between the forces of darkness that have dominated
the world since the dawn of human history and the Christ who created
the world and by redemption has a right also to its possession.
as his realm. Can't you sense what will happen
when our Lord returns to earth, perhaps gradually to be seen
by all as he descends in dignity to take over his rightful possession? Can't you see Satan and the Antichrist
gathering the armies of the world to Armageddon? And believe it
or not, the book of Revelation says it's for the purpose, the
incredible, unbelievable purpose of waging war against the Lamb.
and against his army of saints above. Can't you hear them saying,
with their completely irrational blasphemy, You set foot on the
planet Earth again and we'll kill you. We'll destroy you again. That will be their last word.
Because one word from the lips of Jesus, described as a two-edged
sword proceeding from his mouth, will dispatch Satan, the Antichrist,
the false prophet. They will be flung into the bottomless
pit, where they will be tormented under the judgment of a holy
God forever. For the first time since humanity
has been on earth, following the fall in the Garden of Eden,
Satan will be conspicuous for his absence. All fallen angels,
all demons, will be gone. No longer will they have access
to human beings. No longer will it be possible
in that kingdom age for those who sin, and some will, as we
shall see, to be able to use Eve's excuse who said, Satan
did it. Dear friend, whatever sin any
human being indulges in is not Satan's fault, ultimately, but
our own. As James chapter 1 tells us,
it begins right here. But the tempter has vanished
from the scene. What about righteous angels?
I believe certain inferences from the Bible indicate that
they also will cease to function at the dawn of the kingdom age.
For example, we are told in the book of Hebrews chapter 2 verse
5, not unto angels has he made subject the world to come. They
certainly are ruling the world that's now here. The heavens
and earth that now are angel-dominated. Righteous angels, basically ruling
the affairs of the universe in ways that we can't even begin
to imagine that someday God will tell us. I personally am interested
in meeting my guardian angel, aren't you? Seeing all that he's
gone through and endured in fulfilling his assignment, which is, I'm
sure, so enormous that by the time the kingdom comes he will
be desperately ready for the retirement he richly deserves. Righteous angels since the fall,
struggling thousands of years against Satan and his wicked
forces, will be in a sense exhausted, figuratively speaking, and will
be set aside by God for retirement as a fresh new team takes over.
Well, what team would that be? Well, as Hebrews chapter 2, verse
5 and 6 go on to tell us, one in a certain place has testified,
saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him? For thou
hast made him a little lower than angels. But you see, that's
only temporary. God created angels at the beginning
on a higher level of existence than man. But all that changed
when God the Creator became a human being by incarnation. And although
he too, in the days of his flesh, was lower than angel, served
by angel, at his resurrection, at his ascension
to heaven, God's word tells us he ascended far above the heavens,
and he is now the King. of kings and lord of lords and
angels are infinitely below him even in outward function to say
nothing of created dignity. And you know the Bible very clearly
states in Psalm 8 that God has put all things under man's feet
and someday among those things that man in Christ glorified
with him will find under his feet will be angels. Even the
unworthy Corinthian Christian, Paul says, will judge angels. That, frankly, is hard to believe.
1 Corinthians 6.3, Paul says, you mean you can't even find
a worthy man in your local church to judge matters that concern
yourselves? Know you not that you will judge the world? You
will judge angels. How? What kind of angel? When?
These are great mysteries. But when we add all these inferences
and hints together, it seems to point toward one thing. That
the glorified Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of being
his mystical body and his bride, will assume a superior position
even to the righteous angels that until then will have governed
the universe. And in Christ we shall participate in angelic
judgment. This of course magnifies God's
purpose for man. Lowly though he may seem today
in his sin and degradation, and almost at times as if the image
and likeness of God has been rubbed out, warped, twisted out
of recognition, The fact remains that those objects of his redemptive
grace and love are walking, living temples of the Holy Spirit, who
is the down payment, the foretaste of glory to come. When that great kingdom age dawns,
we will discover that living men will be in two separate groups. Number one, glorified believers
who at the rapture or at the second coming have either been
glorified without dying or have been resurrected from the dead,
from ages past. The second group of living men
will be non-glorified believers who will be living on earth with
mortal bodies capable of begetting children. What is the key that unlocks
the mystery of the resurrection body of believers? It's 1 Corinthians
15. A marvelous exposition with comparisons
and illustrations and analogies to show us basically that this
is not a fable, a myth, a dream. It is a reality demonstrated
by the reality of the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. A body
that operates in a totally different realm. from the physical chemical
laws that we know in our present day science. A body that was
so tangible, so real, that the very wounds that were given to
him at his death will be the mark of his identity. The same
voice, the same facial expressions, handle me and see as spirit hath
not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And he ate before them. a piece of fish and honeycomb,
to demonstrate that he was not a mere theophany this time, but
a permanently incarnate God. Now dear friends, 1 Corinthians
15 says that our body will be patterned after his on the same
principle exactly. With incredible power, incorruptibility,
glory, No pain, no suffering, no limitations as we now know
them. Although we will never be infinite,
we'll never be God, we'll still be finite, we'll still be creatures,
we'll still be limited. But what fantastic transformation
God has in mind for those who believe in him. In fact, In order
to show the limitations of science on this, the Bible says, I have
not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of
man the things that God has prepared for them that love him. But he
has revealed these things to us by his Spirit, through his
word. And 1 Corinthians 15 is the place
to start if you want to know what glorified living men will
be like in the kingdom age. What will they be doing in the
kingdom? My personal opinion is that they will not only live
and reign with Christ as kings and priests for a thousand years
and then forever, Revelation 20, but also that they will make
occasional appearances with Christ on earth, especially at the beginning
and then on the special festival occasions that God describes
in many places in his word. That is my opinion, which is
difficult to prove because the Bible is quite reticent on the
earth aspect of the functions and ministry of glorified people. Because during the Kingdom Age,
the main functions described in terms of earth ministry are
for those who are not glorified, as we shall see. Now, believers
in Jesus Christ who survived the Great Tribulation and who
are not raptured or resurrected will nevertheless be marvelously
provided for by God in the form of supernatural sudden bodily
healing. Consider these three groups of
tribulation survivors and what will happen to them. Number one,
wounded, sick, half-starved Israelite witnesses, 144,000 in number. nearly five times as great an
army of missionaries as exists in the world today. That Christ
refers to as, quote, my brethren in Matthew 25 40. Secondly, other
Israelite refugees from the Antichrist who have fled to the wilderness
and have been hidden by God three and a half years during the awful
onslaughts of the Antichrist. And thirdly, sorely persecuted
Gentile converts of the 144,000 witnesses who are called by our
Lord the sheep from the nations, from the Gentiles, the Gentile
sheep who respond to the witness of these Jewish evangelists and
in most cases suffer a martyr's death according to Revelation
chapter 7 where a myriad of them is seen under the altar in the
form of souls who have been martyred for the name of Christ during
the tribulation. What will happen to these survivors? Listen. The physical healings
that our Lord performed at his first coming were intended to
be a foretaste, a sign of what will happen at the dawn of the
kingdom age. He says so in Matthew 11.5. And Isaiah 35 tells us that when
the kingdom comes, the mark, the sign of it will be that the
lame will leap like a heart. The blind will see, the deaf
will hear. There'll be instantaneous, vast, supernatural healing. And
how desperately it will be needed after three and a half years
of treatment at the hand of the Antichrist. In fact, our Lord
said that those who are his servants by the end of that period who
have survived at all, the only reason they survived is because
they're sealed from death like Paul was till his ministry was
over. And that's the worst thing that could happen to a witness,
to be sealed from death. Paul was stoned to death. In
fact, he said, I die daily. You know what that implies? He
rose daily from the dead in the sense that nothing could stop
it. He was sealed till his work was
done. And so will these eschatological
witnesses on a global scale. Jesus said, this gospel of the
kingdom must be preached to all nations. And their job will be
accomplished before that end comes. And so horrible will be
the end that Jesus said, if those days are not shortened, that
is shortened to the God predicted limits, no flesh would survive. Horrible conditions. in prison,
wounded, tormented, starved. Jesus describes them in Matthew
25. And those who give to witnesses for Christ, a helping hand, an
encouraging word, will not lose their reward, according to Jesus. Now, if he has the power to forgive
Israel's sins at the end of this age, according to Romans 11,
when the original branches of the olive tree are put back and
grafted in where they really belong. He certainly will have
no difficulty in doing the lesser work of saying to his wounded,
crippled people, arise and walk. In fact, so greatly will they
be strengthened by God that, believe it or not, dear friends,
every one of them will live throughout the entire thousand-year reign
of Christ in mortal bodies outliving Methuselah before the flood. And thus, to use a biblical description
of this amazing situation, there will not be an old man that has
not filled his days, and as the days of a tree shall be the days
of my people. And my chosen shall long enjoy
the work of their hand." Isaiah 65. Even more amazing, perhaps, is
this consideration of that coming kingdom age. There will be no infant mortality. Isaiah 65. And by the way, may
I add this, there will be no abortions either. None. Because
there will be no more an infant of days. Isaiah 65 verse 20. There will be no sickness in
the Millennium. No need of doctors, nurses, hospitals,
clinics at all. Why? Because Isaiah 33, 24 says,
and I quote, The inhabitants shall not say, I am sick. They will be completely healthy
and whole. In fact, there won't be any calamities of any kind
that will endanger or harm the bodies of God's people. Isaiah 65, 23. Therefore, just
imagine this if you can, the population growth rate will be
astronomical. Because there won't be any wars.
There will be permanent peace under the administration of the
Prince of Peace that will put all present day promises of political
leaders totally into the shadow. Isaiah chapter 2, they will beat
their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks and nations will not learn war anymore. And dear friend,
the only hope for that ever to happen is Jesus Christ's return
to planet Earth. Furthermore, They're all potential
criminals. And there will be millions of
them by the time the Kingdom Age comes to an end. We'll be
strictly and totally controlled by a rod of iron form of government,
and rebels will die instantly at the hand of Christ the King
of Kings, according to Isaiah 11.4 and Revelation 2.27. It'll
be one gigantic penitentiary for potential rebels, who would
lift their hand against the Christ and smite and destroy his people. There will be death in the kingdom
age, which proves it's not the eternal state. It'll be rare,
but it'll happen. Listen, it will involve only
the unregenerate descendants of those who enter the millennium
with mortal bodies. Because sad to say, It'll still
be true under a perfect government in a magnificent environment
with Satan absent. That every child that's born
will be born in sin. And it can be said then as it
is now and always has since the fall of man in the Garden of
Eden. Behold I was shaped in an iniquity, in sin did my mother
conceive me. Psalm 51 5. And not every child that's born
with a sin nature Accept Jesus Christ as Savior, even though
he is visible and present. It'll be a situation analogous
to Judas Iscariot, who saw the Lord Jesus constantly before
his face for three and a half years, signs, miracles, claims,
wonders, and all, and utterly rejected him in his heart, and
died an unbeliever. So you see, you can't necessarily
guarantee conversion by sign miracle. or by the visible physical
presence of Christ himself. And this is the key that unlocks
the mystery of how you can have an increasing population of unbelievers
in a perfect world ruled by Christ himself. What will happen to unbelievers
who attempt a rebellion against the Christ in his kingdom? Isaiah
65 20 tells you that a sinner who is accursed
will die and be considered a mere child if he dies at the age of
100. He will die because he is a cursed
sinner. That means a sinner who has invoked
the special judgment of God for some deed that he contemplated
against God or his people. And yet, if he's only a hundred
at the time, he's considered a mere child. Why? Because the
normal lifespan of millennial inhabitants will be vastly greater
than that. If you want to see prophecies
in the Old Testament of the stupendous population explosion that'll
take place, read Isaiah 49, 20. Palestine won't have room for
the people of God. Isaiah 54, 1 to 3. Stretch out the tent, loosen
the cord, make room. The prophet says, Zechariah 8,
4-5 says the streets of Jerusalem will be filled overflowing with
people, children playing everywhere. What a fantastic purpose and
plan God has revealed for that coming age. The Bible assures us that carnivorous,
flesh-eating animals were a great hazard in Old Testament times
in the Holy Land. Many people were killed and thousands
terrified by lions and bears and so on. But in the Kingdom
Age, not only will this danger be completely removed from Palestine,
according to Isaiah 35.9, where we're told there will be no lions
there, and Ezekiel 34, 25 and 28 where it says it will be perfectly
safe to sleep in the forest of the Holy Land, but also apparently
the whole world will experience a transformation in the animal
kingdom, for these creatures will be transformed to their
original plant-eating herbivorous characteristics. as described
in Genesis 1.30, where all animals were created to be plant-eaters
only. Lions, for example, will still
be lions. They will maintain their taxonomic
identity. And so the change from plant-eating
lions at creation to flesh-eating ones in the second, third world
systems, and then back again to their original state, does
not change their identity taxonomically. They're still lions. God is able,
miraculously apparently, to change the tooth structure and metabolism
and appetite of animals without rubbing out their identity. In
fact, Isaiah tells us in chapter 11, verse 7, that lions will
live peacefully with cattle and eat straw like oxen. And the
same thing is said of bears and leopards. Now before the fall, And during
the flood, when all human beings were right with God, animals
were all submissive to men, showing us very clearly a principle in
Holy Scripture concerning the animal kingdom. Namely, it is
programmed manward in terms of response in proportion to and
in the light of man's relationship to his God. It's a pyramid structure
of God programmed into relationship. And so really, we're not surprised,
are we, to find that in the coming age when all human beings who
enter that kingdom are right with God, we will find that,
quote, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
which means kingdom, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11.9. There will
be no harmful animals in the kingdom age. Now apparently even
the microscopic world of amoeba and viruses will cease their
warfare against man, sinful man. For quote, the inhabitants shall
not say I am sick, Isaiah 33, 24. Now the big question is this,
are these statements to be taken literally or merely figuratively
of some unknown spiritual reality? Well, we discover that the Apostle
Peter sets for us a guideline on how to interpret such statements
because he said that Israel must return to God, quote, so there
may come seasons of refreshing from the Lord and times of restoration Apokatastasis is the Greek word
there, a return back to original conditions, apokatastasis, of
all things were of God's sake by the mouth of his holy prophets
that have been from of old. That was his great temple sermon
in Acts 3, 19-21. Peter says everything the prophets
spoke concerning that coming age must be fulfilled. And therefore
I understand that this includes the condition of the animal kingdom
described not only in Isaiah, but other passages that depict
a new relationship, which on the basis of the submission of
animals to Noah's family and to Adam and Eve before their
fall, as I say, is not surprising to us at all. The Bible makes
special emphasis upon the condition of serpents in the Millennium.
And surprisingly, Even though they are rendered harmless, Isaiah
11.8, they shall not hurt or destroy, and even a child shall
play with a cockatrice in the adder and not be injured. Those
are poisonous snakes in our age. Serpents will nevertheless continue
to have dust mingled with their food. They will grubble in the
dirt. They will not be restored to
their original more flexible lifestyle, apparently, of living
in trees or whatever may have been true at the beginning. Because
Isaiah 65, 25 tells us that dust in the kingdom age will still
be the serpent's food. Why? I suggest that this will
provide a visible, impressive reminder to inhabitants of that
kingdom age that the sin nature of man, even in a beautiful,
perfect environment. And an ideal society remains
a horrible reality and points to a literal fall in actual history. What will the world be like in
that kingdom topographically and in terms of the soil and
the weather conditions? The Bible has a great deal to
say about that too. Topographically, By the dawn
of the millennium, the present rough topography of Palestine,
with its hills and valleys, deep ravines, will have been evened
and then elevated to a very high plateau. Revelation 6.14 says
that in preparation for that kingdom, God will so shake the
world that every island and every mountain will be removed. And
Zechariah 14.10 specifies that in Palestine The whole region,
from Jerusalem down to the south, will be flattened like the Arabah,
that's the region from the Sea of Galilee to Jordan and south,
will be flat like the Arabah and uplifted. Well again, when
you compare this with other passages in the Old Testament, that fits
perfectly, because Zechariah agreed with Ezekiel that there
has to be an enormous uplift of Palestine in order for the
Dead Sea to be cleansed and to have, quote, exceeding many fishes
for men to cast their nets at En Gedi. That's Ezekiel 47.10. And so you see, to have many
fishes and to have fresh water, it has to have an outlet, and
it's right now 1,300 feet below sea level, and therefore will
have to be lifted up more than a third of a mile in order to
have waters flowing through it and out to the ocean. Furthermore, there will be a
great rift in the present Mount of Olives region. that will provide
a new channel for waters to enter the Eastern Sea, or the Dead
Sea, to drain Palestine, in particular Jerusalem, which will have accessed
us to a broad river." Zechariah 14, verse 8. What about the condition
of the soil for agriculture in the present largely barren Holy
Land? We are told that the soil of
Palestine will become fantastically fertile. even to the top of mountains,
Psalm 72, 16, so that mountains shall drop sweet wine in the
enormous grape harvest, Amos 9, 13. And even the wilderness
and the dry land and the desert shall blossom as the rose, Isaiah
35, 1. And what today would seem to
be a mirage, an unbelievable water supply in the midst of
the desert, shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs
of water." Isaiah 35-7. I personally believe that this
promise will apply only to Palestine and not to the entire world.
That is, this incredibly fertile soil. Because, Zechariah 14-18
states that any nation that does not
participate in the annual Feast of Tabernacles in the Holy Land
will be under a special curse of God, in the sense that rain
will be withheld from that country. But Egypt, which doesn't have
rain anyway, and thus would not be affected by that kind of curse,
will have a special judgment, namely a plague. And Egyptians
have a vivid memory to this day of the certain series of events
when you mention the word plague. They know that the God of Israel
can handle Egypt very well. Zechariah 14, 18. Weather conditions
also will be vastly transformed, especially in the Promised Land
in the Kingdom Age. In fact, it will be supernaturally
controlled to encourage those who come to the Temple from all
over the world for worship services. Just as the pillar of cloud followed
and protected Israel in its exodus from Egypt and its wilderness
wanderings long ago, this covering over Palestine will serve as,
and I quote Isaiah now, a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from
the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from
rain. Isaiah chapter 4, verse 6. God
takes very seriously the conditions for worship. And you remember
how serious consideration of an enormous spiritual problem
in the days of Ezra, recorded in the last chapter of that book,
were hindered and disrupted because of adverse weather conditions
and the cold and the rain. God will see to it there will
be no such hindrance to the public, meaningful, joyful, united worship
of the world in the Millennial Center. of worship. What does the Bible say about
the end of that magnificent, beautiful, wonderful kingdom
age? It says, to our utter astonishment,
it will end in a total global catastrophe. If you and I were
writing the Bible, we would, I'm sure, never end such a beautiful
story that way. We would end it typically, and
so they lived happily ever after. But that is not true because
the Millennium will be increasingly populated by unbelieving men. The children born to believing
survivors of the tribulation who enter the Millennium alive
with mortal bodies. And God always gives such people
a choice. The unbelievers will not all
be ushered automatically to heaven. It would destroy heaven. And
so God will give them a choice, as he did to Adam and Eve. And
the choice is especially provided at the end of...
The World of Christ's 1,000-Year Kingdom
Series From Dr. Whitcomb's Classroom
| Sermon ID | 24101537133 |
| Duration | 47:38 |
| Date | |
| Category | Teaching |
| Bible Text | Matthew 24; Psalm 2 |
| Language | English |
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