We're going to continue with biblical prophecy, post-millennialism. We're going to take up historical expectations according to the Bible again. This is the second part. I'm talking particularly about the major prophets this time. Last time we talked about the Pentateuch. Now I want to talk about the major prophets, mainly because the major prophets begin to give us an interpretive sense of where some of the things that we were looking at in the Pentateuch, where we should expect them to go, particularly as we're going to see in light of the idea of the New Covenant. The major prophets are all going to give us some direction, pointing us to the time of the Messiah. And if we understand that, there is actually quite a bit of information scattered around in them, particularly as we'll see in Isaiah. There's a lot of information given to direct us in our thinking about the nature of the New Testament era. That's important because, of course, we are living in it. It has the information we need so that we can process and understand more clearly a lot of New Testament prophecy. It's giving us a view of history. which is going to be informed by what we saw in the Pentateuch. If you remember, in the Pentateuch, we saw that there were a number of passages talking about the growth of the church, the expectation that the kingdom would grow, that God's people would expand, and even expand to the point where they would occupy the territory now occupied by the enemies of God's people. The Pentateuch particularly gives us a sense of that promise in the Proto-Evangelium in Genesis 3.15 that the seed of the woman will conquer. The seed of the woman will prevail. The seed of the serpent will be crushed. Now in terms of eschatology, that is in terms of how all of this plays out historically as history moves towards its climax, that is, in fact, given a lot more detail in the prophets. So this week we want to look at the major prophets and look at a number of points of detail. These are all, again, giving us points of reference Things that we need to keep in mind when we finally get to look at the New Testament. The New Testament is not to be interpreted apart from all of the information we're gathering from the Old Testament. It's a huge mistake in dispensational circles and a lot of premillennial circles. to divorce what we're going to do interpretively with prophecy in the New Testament from what the Old Testament says. It's also, I think, a mistake that is made by certain schools of amillennialism to hyper-spiritualize, because although a lot of this does have reference to a spiritual struggle, there's also, as I think we'll see borne out here, there is a presumption of historical development of the Kingdom of God. Contrary to Preterism or Futurism, the Kingdom of God is going to be portrayed as a continuum. The New Testament has a particular character that the prophets, for example, see and declare. We're going to see in the prophets a progression of the gospel. We're going to see eschatologically what ought to be expected during the New Testament times. So I want to look again at question 191 from the large catechism. What do we pray for in the second petition? In the second petition, which is thy kingdom come. Acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in, the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate, that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted. That Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and are reigning with him forever. And that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends. Again, I want to point out that the presumption of the divines is not, on the one hand, it's not only historical. They see that there is a struggle. There's a battle between sin and Satan. There's a battle that we have with against sin and Satan, I should say, against the powers of darkness. There's a spiritual dimension that is developed here that is, in fact, following through. But this spiritual struggle that we're talking about, this struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, this struggle is, in fact, taking place in time, in history, and over the course of history. One of the best places to see that, not just the promise of eschatological victory, which I think is borne out pretty clearly throughout the Pentateuch, but the shape in which that victory comes to the people of God in history, which I think is one of the chief strengths in the prophets, both the major and the minor prophets. So we're going to look at the major prophets. We want to look at the minor prophets after that. Then we'll look at some of the other literature in the Old Testament and its bearing because there are a lot of things said in the Bible that have bearing on this question. So we want to begin with the prophet Isaiah. What makes Isaiah such a good focal point? starting point and even point of reference for entering into the major prophets is this. More than any other prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah references the New Testament era. In fact, Isaiah has been called the evangelical prophet because of this. He's the prophet most interested in the gospel era. So he has a lot to say about that. Next to the Psalms, the book of Isaiah is the most quoted book in the New Testament. And that's, I believe, one of the reasons why. Isaiah is the one who is searching out and trying to give us a sense of what's coming in history. So, we want to begin looking at Isaiah 2, verses 2 through 4. Isaiah 2, verses 2 through 4. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. 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 in his paths. What we find almost immediately in the book of Isaiah is this, and it will be repeated in the minor prophets in the book of Micah. There's going to be a period of time. He calls it the last days, and we'll talk about that in just a moment, but he says there's going to be a period of time when the mountain of the Lord's house, and by mountain, when the Bible talks about mountains, it's talking about kingdoms. He's talking about the kingdom of the Lord's house, the church, the kingdom of his grace, shall be established, where? The top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it. Now, the word top in Hebrew is the word rosh. It's the word for head. It's the head of the mountains. And the language here is pointing to a very interesting phenomenon. That is that the church, the kingdom of God's grace, will be established at the top of the kingdoms of the world, and all the nations are going to flow unto it, to the kingdom of grace. It's going to be established in the top, that is by the chief or the head. It's the same word that we would use for the chief leaders. So the idea of a national establishment, not only in Israel, but among the Gentile nations. Because the word nations is in fact the word goyim, Gentiles. It is in fact a word that takes in all of the non-Jews. So Isaiah is telling us there's going to be a time when this is going to occur. When all the nations of the earth will have established the kingdom of grace and that they will flow unto it. That is, they're going to bring their people into it. Now this is going to be confirmed later in Isaiah. We need to consider then what does he mean by this term last days or latter days. And for just a moment we're going to jump out of the Old Testament and look at what the apostles have to say to help us interpret this. We're gonna look at Acts 2, 17, Hebrews 1, 2, and James 5, 3. Acts 2, verse 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, it will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Hebrews 1, verse 2. path in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. James 5 verse 3. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rest of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. We could multiply examples, but these are really sufficient for our purposes. The Old Testament speaks of the last days. Unlike the expectations of a lot of modern evangelicals, premillennialists, futurists, last days is not simply talking about the end of time as if it's just before Judgment Day. The last days is a term used in the Old Testament to describe the messianic age. So Hebrews says that in these last days God speaks to us by his son. So the advent of Christ was in fact the beginning of the last days. So there's a big correction for a lot of people in their theological point of view. Now that does not mean that all prophecy is somehow going to be fulfilled in 70 A.D. because the last days does not simply refer to the end of the Old Testament or that period of time just subsequent to the Old Testament era. The last days refers to this entire New Testament time, the Messianic Age. We need to keep that in mind then. We want to look next at Isaiah 9, 2 through 7. The hawk in darkness hath seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and will not increase the joy. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, and the days of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise. Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of this government and peace there shall be no end. Come the turn of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth forever. Concealed, the Lord of hosts shall perform this. So Isaiah now presents a picture in chapter 9 of the advent of Christ. And he tells us a couple of things. He tells us that the advent of Christ will reorient the message that God has so that it isn't only going to be to Israel. It's going to take in the Gentiles. But perhaps most importantly, the great expectation that he gives us here is this, that the establishing of this messianic kingdom, the era of the Messiah, will be one of increasing government. it's going to continue to increase and there's not really going to be any end to that. And that is to say that if we were to look at all of history from Adam down to Christ, what we see is a very narrow line of influence a little narrow channel in which the revelation of God was flowing called Israel. But Isaiah sees all of this changing and broadening. And in fact, not only broadening in its outlook, but broadening in its government. That there's going to be a continual outworking of this principle during the messianic era. And that is going to have very interesting consequences. We look at Isaiah 11, 1-9. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding and the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither approve after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and approve 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 lip shall he slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 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 the little child shall leave him. And the cow and the bear shall feed, and the young one shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the mean child shall put his hand on the cockatrice stem. 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. As the waters cover the sea, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. What's happening here? Isaiah says, look, Messiah is going to come. He's the branch. He's coming out of the stem of Jesse. He's going to come and the Spirit of the Lord is going to rest upon it. And this battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent will continue. It will continue as the seed of the woman dispossesses the seed of the serpent. There will be a gradual expansion. The influence of the gospel is going to be throughout the whole earth. That there will be a transformation of a world at war and rebellion with God. to a world that finds peace in Christ. As the gospel triumphs, the world experiences peace. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, and so on. Now we want to move on to Isaiah 19, 18 to 25. Isaiah 19 verses 18 through 25. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts. One shall be called the city of destruction. In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. There shall be for a sign for a witness unto the Lord of hosts. in the land of Egypt, for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors. And he shall send them a Savior, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation. Yea, they shall vow, vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, and he shall smite and heal it. And they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria. and Israel, my inheritance. So what do we see in Isaiah 19? Well, Isaiah tells us that covenanting is going to be a great mechanism. They're all vowing here. They're vowing. And when are they vowing? They're vowing in that day. That day is referring to a specific time in the latter days or the last days. I think it's referring to a time very closely related to what the New Testament will characterize as the millennium. As this transformation continues, as Christ's peaceable kingdom expands, the response of the people of God is going to be, at some point, to enter into this kind of covenant, national covenant. The fact that Assyria and Egypt are listed here together with Israel, you have two of Israel's biggest persecutors, biggest problems, two of the empire's most hostile being presented as being converted and entering into covenant in a very similar way with the way that Israel has. we see covenanting is going to be one of the mechanisms to bring about this kind of universal change. It's going to be, in some sense, tied to that day, the day wherein this transformation is, in fact, in a state of triumphing. All right, I want to look now at Isaiah 27.6. Isaiah 27 verse 6, 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. Here again we have an interesting idea about the way this New Testament era is going to unfold. And that is, it's presented as an organic development. That's not to say that there isn't going to be a distinct period of time where the fruit is in full bloom or it's fully displayed on the tree, if you will. But the fact is that Isaiah sees this very much organically. This is why in the New Testament, as we will see, There's this idea of a small mustard seed, for example, growing up into a great tree. There's an idea of organic progression. And Paul falls back on that in Romans 11 when he talks about the wild olive branch and the cutting off of the Jews and the grafting of the Gentiles, all subjects that we want to cover in due time and in their place. Salvation is moving in an organic fashion. There's a flow to it, but there's a connectedness as well. In other words, Isaiah is not picturing, as some forms of post-millennialism seem to envision, pietistic forms of post-millennialism, seem to picture this idea that it's all going to be a matter of revivals. That's not the way it's being portrayed here. We want to look now at Isaiah 30 verse 26 and Isaiah 32 13 to 15. Isaiah 30 verse 26. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days in the in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound. What's going on here is this, Isaiah is telling of God's mercies to the church, and the blessings of the kingdom, that there's going to come an increase that is such that the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, the light of the sun shall be sevenfold. The moon is talking about the Old Testament economy. The sun is talking about the New Testament economy. We're talking about an increase of the influence of the gospel. We're talking about a time and a period where this increase is going to grow, the influence is going to grow, and it's going to expand to encompass Jews and Gentiles. So the Jews are not simply going to be cast off forever, on the one hand. On the other hand, we do need to understand that we're talking about a very large and expansive acceptance of the gospel. If the gospel era, if those who are influenced by the gospel, if that is any indication, there's going to come a time when there's going to be a perfection, sevenfold shining. And this, too, I think is linked to the idea of the Millennium and the New Testament. Again, we're not going to spend time on that question the millennium yet But there's a period of time clearly delineated period of time in here where this is going to be the case where there's going to be a perfection what we see organically developing the light of the gospel that is in fact on display and turning outward the progression of the gospel through all the nations and being established in the tops of the nations and that was talked about at the very beginning of Isaiah. We're seeing here that at some point in this period of time, this gospel era, there's going to be a time when it's going to be like sevenfold. And that's talking about a perfection. There's a perfection that's attached to this. and that's what is in view here. All right, look at Isaiah 42, 1-12. Isaiah 42, verses 1-12. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gendiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cross his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flack shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Cedar doth inhabit. Let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord and declare His praise in the islands. And now here we're told that Christ is being given for a light to the Gentiles. And I want you to keep in mind whenever we read of the Gentiles, you can think in this term, the nations, because Gentiles and nations are interchangeable. So when we talk about the Gentiles, we're not simply talking about scattered individuals, but we're talking about Gentiles as they are scattered in various national capacities. They're the nations. The Gentiles are the nations, all of the nations that are not Israel. Now Christ, we're told here, he is going to bring light bring forth judgment. How far is this going to extend? We're told that even the isles shall wait for his law. Now this, again, this is bearing on the interpretation of Isaiah 2. The idea of the nations having recourse to the law that's going forth from Zion. The mountain of the Lord's house is being established in the tops of the mountains of the earth, the kingdoms of the earth, and the nations are going to flow onto it. What's going forth? The law. They're hearing the law, they're flowing onto it. So that the idea here of the isles, the islands, declaring the praise of God, Well, that's the response of nations, island nations even, that have in fact been brought into this position of having established the church in a national capacity. How are they doing that? How are they sealing that or binding that to them? Isaiah told us in Isaiah 18, they're doing it by vow. They're making covenants with God. a global transformation that is going to come through a process of covenanting, national establishments, the gospel is going to be embraced by the nations. And people who want to cut and run on this, who say, look, all the church needs to do is get out there. As soon as every nation is heard, as soon as the gospel is published in every language, we're out of here. That's not what Isaiah is saying. Getting the gospel into every language and in every nation is just the beginning. We'll see this in the Great Commission. We're told to go forth and disciple the nations, and that's what's in view here. There's a discipling process. In the course of that, there's going to be an organic expansion. And finally, it will culminate during the gospel era in a time when all of the light of this gospel era, the time of the sun, will be like seven times in brightness. Christ has come to bring light not only to Israel, but to the nations, to the Gentiles. We want to look now at Isaiah 45, 22, and 23. Isaiah 45, verses 22 and 23. There are a couple things here that we can see about God's plan. The first is that Christ is a Savior not merely to Jews but to Gentiles. And the second is that God's plan encompasses everything to the ends of the earth. So the Gospel is universal in that respect. It is, in fact, a calling forth of people out of darkness from every language, nation, and tribe. But it's also about establishing the church and bringing nations bound by covenant into this same covenant to be one with Israel. Isaiah is giving us a picture then of a gospel going forth that is missionated. They're going to be missionaries. This is different in many respects from the expectations of Jews. And yet here we're told this is going to go forth. It's not just an inward thing looking inward toward Israel, but it's outward-looking and forward-looking even in and through the Gentiles, or the nations. Isaiah 49, 12. Isaiah 49, verse 12. Behold, these shall come from far, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinai. Isaiah 49, 12. This name, the Land of Sinai, is thought to be the Hebrew name for China. So the idea here, and it may well be being borne out even today, because it appears that there are more Christians in China now than there are in Europe. So Isaiah says that China is going to come. They're going to flow in. This is how far the gospel is going to go. We talk about the end of the earth. We're talking about all the way over there to China and beyond to the isles. There's a concern that Isaiah has to make it clear to us that the gospel is going to be planted in every nation. And here, We have one of the largest and oldest nations in the history of mankind, perhaps one of the largest nations farthest away from Israel, being singled out and named particularly. We want to look at Isaiah 60 verses 1 to 5 and 9 to 12. Isaiah 60 verses 1 to 5. Arise, shine for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. themselves together. They come to thee, thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged, because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, and the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." In verses 9 through 12. Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of There are a couple of things here. First, we're told very very clearly that the nations, the Gentiles, will flow into the church. That there will be, under the New Testament era, an influx of Gentile membership. the church will be enlarged by this, by the infusion of Gentiles, that they're going to bring their wealth into the church. But in addition to that, we are told that conversely, the kings of the earth, not only are they going to be brought into the church with the nations, but these kings of the earth are then going to serve the church. They're going to turn this wealth and grandeur to the benefit of the church. In fact, the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee, that is Zion, the church, shall utterly perish. It will be wasted. The nation shall be utterly wasted. Nations that won't establish the true religion are going to come to destruction. So that we see under the gospel era, the great safety of nations is national establishment of religion. We have a two fold look at the influence and the organic growth of the church. First, the nations flow into the church along with their kings. Second, the nations together with their kings establish the church. And there is that same idea talked about in Isaiah 2. The mountain of the Lord's house is established in the tops of the mountains of the earth. And the law goes forth from Zion, the nations flow onto it. You see, it's the same thing. There is, in fact, as the gospel expands into the world, a reciprocal relationship between the flowing into the church care the nations have outwardly for the church. Now this tells us, among other things, that Isaiah is not simply spiritualizing everything. I'm not saying that there are not spiritual dimensions here, but he's talking about kings, he's talking about queens, he's talking about nations. Not simply individuals, this is not simply about spiritual warfare in yourself. It may make fine application in that regard. He's talking about a view of history. He's talking about the character of the messianic age. He's talking about an organic budding growing, spreading of this New Testament church. And that's what he has here going on in chapter 60. The church, at first, it pulls in people. And as it takes root in a nation, eventually pulls in the king. And once the king is in, the king should be establishing the church, that even more of the people are brought in. So there is that cycle where the nation is being blessed in the church, and the church is blessing the nation. All right, finally in Isaiah, we're gonna look at Isaiah 65, verses 17 to 25. will come into mine, but be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more the death and infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days. For the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be a curse. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat. Whereas the days of a tree are the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer. while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall be together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullet, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy, nor my holy name be saved. So here again, we have that idea of the triumph of peace, right? The wolf and the lamb feeding together and so on. Now, We can't be talking about the eternal state because there are people here who are still dying, and yet people who are 100 years old are going to be looked upon as infants. This is the culmination of this gospel growth, the gospel era. I think, again, this is talking about a time when the effects of the gospel have taken full effect in the nations, a time that the New Testament is going to call the millennium. One of the effects that Isaiah mentions here is this reversal. Remember, after the fall of man, that the lifespans of men were dramatically decreased. But here Isaiah indicates that there's going to come a time when the lifespans of man will dramatically increase again. prior to the end of time. There will still be death. But at 100 years old, you're still going to be considered an infant if you die. You're still laboring to build houses. You're still farming. There's still things to do. This isn't the eternal state. But notice that Isaiah is picturing a period of time when so many of the effects of the fall have now been overcome. Now this period of time that he's talking about, which again I believe is to be identified with that period referred to as the millennium in the New Testament, this period of time is clearly later in the messianic era, toward the end of the messianic era, if you're still going to be considered an infant at age 100, this tells us that the period of time in view has to be significantly longer than 100 years. And that was, again, the millennium fits that criteria. It's not heaven on earth, but it is a respite on earth from a lot of the effects of the fall. And the reason is that the sanctification of the Spirit has taken hold on entire nations and peoples. There's been a corporate sanctifying of not simply the Jews, but all of the Gentiles as well, so that we see the reversal of all these things. And it really culminates in a picture of great tranquility and peace. There's not gonna be any war at this time. There's nothing to fight about. This is a time when we see the full blossoming, the full display of all of the fruit on the tree of history during the Messianic age. There's a completion involved here. This picture comes very appropriately toward the end of the book of Isaiah. He's very carefully been spinning this out to help us get a sense of how the gospel is going to progress through history. So there are a number of things that we can learn from the book of Isaiah, and I think a lot of these things are things that we need to remember, things that we need to keep in mind when we get to the New Testament. These are not simply spiritual lessons. They certainly have spiritual applications, but Isaiah envisions, I think very clearly, historical development, historical outworking of the principles of the kingdom of Christ on earth. His government is going to prevail. We want to look next at Jeremiah. We're just going to look at a couple of passages here, and then we'll look at a couple in Ezekiel quickly. Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 first. Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. 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. There is here in this passage a picture of the gospel era as being one of great spiritual power and sanctity, sanctification, But there's language throughout these prophets that indicate that it's not merely to the Gentiles. The Jews are also going to be bound up in this. And there's language here that I think points to the restoration of the Jews that is alluded to in question 191. That will come up again in several places here. Jeremiah 50 verses 4 and 5. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces to the Lord, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. What is this talking about? Again, we're talking about covenanting, and we're talking about covenanting during the New Testament era. We're talking about a restoration of Israel, bringing back of the tribes. We're talking about a binding of themselves together with, at this point, the nations, the Gentiles. The Gentiles are already going to be at work in this work of covenanting. There's going to be a restoration of the Jews. There's going to be a fullness of the Gentiles. That's what question 191 is pushing us to understand. And I think if we look at some of these texts, we should be able to at least begin to see what they're talking about. Now, Ezekiel 11, verses 16 through 20. Ezekiel 11, verses 16 through 20. Therefore say, thus saith the Lord God, although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them You will be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say, thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the people, or out of the countries where you've been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the standing heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Again, Ezekiel is confirming this idea of the restoration of the Jews. They're grafting in, they're being brought back during this New Testament era. They're being grafted in again, as it were, to that Gentile church. They're going to be one of many nations who are being brought back. God is going to restore them. He's going to make them serve along with the Gentiles during this messianic time. Now perhaps the most intriguing thing in all of the book of Ezekiel comes at the very end. It's something that tends to get ignored quite a bit. We want to look at Ezekiel 47 verses 1 through 12. Ezekiel 47, verses 1-12. Afterward he brought me again into the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters. The waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters. The waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through. The waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over. For the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees, on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea. Which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth which moveth, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither. For they shall be healed, and everything shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it from Angedi even unto Eglium. They shall be a place to spread forth nets. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed. They shall be given to salt. and by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. It shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. Ezekiel 47 is giving us this same the same picture of the growth of the New Testament church under the guise of the temple. So the temple is representative of that. It's very interesting that in conjunction with this temple that Ezekiel is speaking of here, that again and again this idea of measuring by thousands comes up. This is probably one of the sources for the thousand years in Revelation 20. In all likelihood there's some connection here with this idea of a thousand. Now I'm not saying it's being used in the same way, but there's a connection. Because during the millennium in the New Testament, as we'll see when we get there, that's going to be the height of the building of this spiritual temple. that spiritual temple. It's being established piece by piece, wall by wall, if you will, as it's being established in nation after nation. Each portion of this temple is being established. So it moves from point to point. With each national establishment, another part of the temple is put into place. It's all being fitly joined together into one big church. It represents one big thing. Now, the reason I think the thousands are in fact connected in some way to the millennium is this. If we look at the river, and this is very important, When this temple begins its building, the river starts out very, very small. It's really just a stream. But as it goes out from this beginning part, It goes out of the door of the temple as it flows out. Remember, the temple is also, Christ says, he talks about the temple of his body. And so the idea of the crucifixion is tied in here. This is the effect of the atonement of Christ in history. As this water is flowing out, two things are happening. It gets broader and it gets deeper. And then there's another very peculiar feature of this. And that is that the waters start to heal things. They go through the desert and all of a sudden they, like Ezekiel, had we gone back and looked in Ezekiel 37, the spirit of God, blowing over the valley of dry bones. This river that's getting wider and deeper is becoming filled with fish. Remember, in the New Testament, of course, Jesus says to the apostles, he's going to make them fishers of men. There's a river full of fish. With each thousand, it's getting broader, It's getting deeper. There's teeming with more life and on the banks then we see the trees growing with their fruit for healing. we see is a culmination of the effect of the gospel in the nations. The trees, as we'll see in Revelation, the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. So this is going forth, it's a picture of the gospel, the river of the gospel going forth in the New Testament era. And it's one that is more and more comprehensive. It's getting broader, it's getting deeper, it's involving more and more lively fish. So Ezekiel is giving us a picture, finally, of, at the end, of the millennial temple, if you will. That is, the church, when it's brought to a point of completeness, it's going to culminate in this kind of prosperity. So that's as far as we're going to go tonight. Next time we want to take up some of the minor prophets and discuss a number of the prophecies scattered through the minor prophets. And then we will move into some other Old Testament literature. Still Waters Revival Books is now located at PuritanDownloads.com. It's your worldwide, online Reformation home for the very best in free and discounted classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, MP3s, and videos. For much more information on the Puritans and Reformers, including the best free and discounted classic and contemporary books, MP3s, digital downloads, and videos, please visit Still Waters Revival Books at PuritanDownloads.com. 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