The Millennial Kingdom Dispensation of
Christ, Part 3. Revelation 20:1 - 6, Isaiah 2, 9, 11, 35, 62, 64, and 65
There must be a future Jewish
kingdom in order to fulfill the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, and to their descendants, to give them the land, that there would be a
kingdom there of unprecedented scope, and that in that kingdom there would be
the spiritual center of human civilization on the planet. That has never occurred
yet, it is somewhere off in the distant future. There were specific promises
made in the Old Testament about the Messiah.
What is the character of
this kingdom? Isaiah was written at the same time as the events of 2 Kings
14-16. Cf. Isaiah 1:1. Isaiah was the key prophet in the southern kingdom and
is contemporaneous with Micah. The context of Isaiah chapter two was a time
when they were both at war and preparing for war. Also it is a time of the
rising threat of Assyria on their north-western flank. In chapter two we get
this remarkable prophecy: Isaiah 2:2-4 NASB “Now it will come about
that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be
established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come
and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the
house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we
may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up
sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.”
The first thing that is
stated is the time frame, it is in the latter days or the last days, and “last
days” can refer to two different things. It can refer to the last days for Israel or it can refer to the latter days of the church age
which is most of the church age, and we have to distinguish them based on
context. The latter days for Israel focuses on that last seven-year time frame based on
Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9 and also what we refer to as the Tribulation and
going into the Millennial kingdom. So the latter days for Israel is when this kingdom is established—“The mountain of
the house of the LORD Will be established.” There are ridges around
Jerusalem that are higher than the temple mount and Mount Zion, but what is
described here as well as in Isaiah 40ff is that there is something that
changes at the end of the Tribulation period in the earthquakes that occur so
that there is an uplift and this mountain is pushed up, and this is where the
future temple will be—Ezekiel 40ff. So this is where the Lord’s house will be.
It tells us that since none of this has ever happened there is a future temple
that will be established there. This passages is saying that topographically it
is above everything and all the Gentiles will flow to it. So the focal point of
worship of God on the earth will be once again in the temple in Jerusalem and all nations will focus on that future temple.
There is a direct communication and instruction coming from God and this
implies a personal presence of God at the temple again. This was lost in about
592 BC
when Ezekiel had his vision and saw the presence of God, the Shekinah, leave
the temple. So here is a return of the presence of God to the temple. The Torah
will be taught—“For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
Then we have the statement
in verse 4, “And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions
for many peoples.” The Messiah will bring judgment on those who are rebellious,
those who are criminals; ultimately all judgment goes to the throne of the
Messiah in Jerusalem. And there will be no war—this cannot happen until
the Messiah is in charge. They will beat their ploughshares and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up the sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war anymore. This is the true utopia that everybody tries to
get to through some sort of peace treaty, some arms control treaty, some sort
of nuclear reduction treaty; all of this is just as bogus as it can be because
it can’t happen until the Messiah is in charge. Until there is a perfect ruler
and a perfect government you can’t have a perfect administration, and until
that point there will always be wars and rumors of wars. The words, “And they will
hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation
will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war,”
are inscribed on a statue given by the Soviet Union to the United Nations. It is also inscribed outside
the entrance to the UN, which shows that the UN has assumed for itself a
messianic role. They claim to be the organization that is going to do what
Isaiah says only the Messiah can do. So the UN stands as a monumental heresy, a
blasphemy toward God in their arrogant claim to be able to bring about world
peace.
What we learn here is
simply that there is going to be a future time of relative perfection on the
earth. The reason it is relative is because those born during that period will
still sin, still be capable of sin, and therefore it will not be absolute
perfection. Various other aspects of our current environment will be reversed
and there won’t be a curse from sin, the Genesis 3 curse will be rolled back.
In Isaiah 9:7 we read, “There will be no end to
the increase of {His} government or of peace…” So this will be a time of world
peace on the planet. “…on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To
establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and
forevermore...” That is the nature of the Messianic rule.
We see this again in
Isaiah chapter eleven, one of the critical chapters. Isaiah 11:6 NASB
“And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the
young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a
little boy will lead them.” This doesn’t happen today. In the future it will
and this shows a fundamental change that takes place reversing what occurred
when Adam sinned. [7] “Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will
lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. [8] The nursing
child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his
hand on the viper’s den. [9] They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy
mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the
waters cover the sea.” That has never happened. Remember that in Deuteronomy 13
& 18 when God laid down the tests for evaluating a prophet He said
everything they prophesied had to come true. The penalty was the death penalty
if one little thing that they said would happen did not happen. One mistake
meant that nothing they said was from God. So when we come to these prophecies
in the Old Testament where there are these unfulfilled prophecies it means that
there must be a future time when they will be fulfilled, or they were false
prophets, false prophecies and we just throw the whole Bible away and forget
about it. So they will come true at some point in the future. Isaiah chapter
eleven gives us the characteristics of that time period and the changes that
will take place among the animals.
Isaiah 30:23, 24 speaks of
how God is going to multiply the prosperity at that time. He is going to bring
rich fertility. NASB “Then He will give {you} rain for the seed
which you will sow in the ground, and bread {from} the yield of the ground, and
it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy
pasture. Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will
eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.”
Isaiah 42 comes in the
servant section. Isaiah 42:1 NASB “Behold, My Servant, whom I
uphold; My chosen one {in whom} My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon
Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” This is talking
about an individual, not the nation Israel; He is the Messiah. [2] “He will not cry out or raise
{His voice,} Nor make His voice heard in the street.” Who is
speaking here? It is God the Father, Yahweh.
He speaks about His Servant, the Messiah whom we know is going to be called the
Father of Eternity and the Mighty God. He is going to put His Spirit upon Him.
There is the Trinity right there. This is a time of worldwide justice.
Isaiah 65:17 NASB “For
behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be
remembered or come to mind.” This is not the new heavens of Revelation 21 but
he uses that same terminology to speak of the complete renovation that must
take place in the land of Israel.
Israel is going to be decimated by the Antichrist and the
world powers in the Tribulation. It is when the Messiah comes back to rescue
them that they will be delivered. Then God is going to renovate the entire
earth at that time. It is not a new creation, it is a renovation, an overhaul
that takes place before the Millennial kingdom begins. Everything prior to the
establishment of the Millennial kingdom is going to be basically forgotten
because of the wonder and the peace, the joy and happiness that will exist in
the Messianic kingdom. [18] “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem {for} rejoicing And her people {for} gladness.” If we
look at Zechariah chapter twelve and see how the Gentile nations come in and
destroy Jerusalem then this has a tremendous significance here because
there is obviously a renovation of Jerusalem. [19] “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be
heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.” Prior to that there
was much weeping and sorrow and crying.
Then we see that life
spans will be much longer in this kingdom. Isaiah 65:20 NASB “No
longer will there be in it an infant {who lives but a few} days, Or an old man
who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one
hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be {thought}
accursed.” Infant mortality will be unknown and nobody is going to
die early. Life spans are going to be so long, almost 1000 years. What this
means is that when you have lived 100 years that is just like being an infant,
you are just barely getting started. When we get to eighty or ninety years now
we can’t imagine what this is going to be like. That is because our bodies and
our minds deteriorate from the corruption of this world. That won’t be the case
in the Millennium, and when a person is 800 years old in the Millennium he will
have the youth and vigor of a twenty-year-old. But the sinner who does not
reach 100 years old will be accursed, and this indicates someone who has not
reached salvation by that time and is thought to be coming under judgment. It
doesn’t mean that they don’t live beyond 100. [21] “They will build houses and
inhabit {them;} They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
[22] They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, {so will
be} the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their
hands. [23] They will not
labor in vain, Or bear {children} for calamity; For they are the offspring of
those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.” This
is the characteristic of the kingdom. [24] “It will also come to pass that
before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
[25] The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw
like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm
in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 31 talks about
the remnant of Israel that is saved at the time that they return to the land. Jeremiah 31:12
NASB “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And
they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, And over
the young of the flock and the herd; And their life will be like a watered
garden, And they will never languish again.” That promises is preceded in v.8
that God will gather the Israelites from the ends of the earth and bring them
back to the land. [10] “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his
flock. [11] For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of
him who was stronger than he.” Then later in the chapter is the description of
the New covenant, v. 31.
Ezekiel’s life span also
overlapped the final days of the southern kingdom and he speaks of peace during
the time of the kingdom. Ezekiel 34:24 NASB “And I, the LORD, will be
their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have
spoken. [25] I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate
harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness
and sleep in the woods. [26] I will make them and the places around My hill a
blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be
showers of blessing. [27] Also the tree of the field will yield
its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their
land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have
delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.”
Joel 2:21 NASB “Do not fear, O land, rejoice
and be glad, For the LORD has done great things. [22] Do not fear,
beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For
the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full” –
agricultural fertility and prosperity. They never got it from Baal and the idols
but they get it when they are submissive to God and worship Him alone. [23] “So
rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given
you the early rain for {your} vindication. And He has poured down for you the
rain, The early and latter rain as before. [24] The threshing
floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and
oil. [25] Then I will make up to you for the years That the
swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the
gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you… [27] Thus you will know
that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the LORD your God, And there is no
other; And My people will never be put to shame.”
In Amos chapter nine is a
statement of the restoration of Israel. Amos 9:11 NASB “In
that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I
will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old… [13] Behold,
days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the
treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills will be dissolved.” All of these are metaphors describing
agricultural growth and prosperity. [14] Also I will restore the captivity of
My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live {in
them;} They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens
and eat their fruit.” This is not talking about the restoration
today, this is but a foretaste of the future because this comes when the house
of David is restored and there is a Davidic King ruling over the nations in the
future Millennium.
Micah 4:1 NASB “And
it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be
established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills,
And the peoples will stream to it. [2] Many nations will come and
say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the
house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may
walk in His paths.’ For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” This is almost identical to Isaiah
2:2-4. [3] “And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for
mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And
their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war. [4] Each of them will sit
under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make {them} afraid, For
the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.” It is a time of
perfect peace. [5] “Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As
for us, we will walk In the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.”
Illustrations