The Coming Kingdom, Part 2
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah, various
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note: This is the second sermon of a two-part series on the Kingdom of God, which is a topic broached throughout Isaiah and other prophetic books.
Introduction: Today I want to conclude a two-part message on the Coming Millennial Kingdom of Christ. The first thing we noted last Sunday is that the term “Kingdom” can be used in two very legitimate senses. We can speak of the Kingdom as the sovereign rule of God over the universe and in the hearts of His people. Or we can speak of the Kingdom as that future personal reign of Jesus Christ over the earth, as prophesied in the Scriptures. To distinguish these two meanings of “Kingdom,” we have used the term “Kingdom of God” for the first, and “Messianic Kingdom” or “Millennial Kingdom” for the second.
Then we pointed out that not everyone agrees on the nature of that Messianic Kingdom. While Revelation 20 teaches that Christ will reign for a thousand years, there are three distinctly different interpretations of that reign. The Postmillennialists, of which there are very few today, believe that the Church will, through its efforts of evangelism and edification, so influence society that the world will in effect become Christianized, and that Christ will reign through the Church for 1,000 years (a long, but indefinite period of time), at the end of which the Second Coming will occur. Some even believe that we are in the Millennium now, a notion that should appear rather preposterous when we begin looking at the characteristics of the Millennium in a few moments.
The Amillennialists take the 1000 years as figurative and believe that the only Millennial Kingdom that exists or will exist is the spiritual kingdom of Christ that began at the First Advent and continues until the Second Coming.
In contrast, Premillennialists believe that the Scriptural promises of an earthly kingdom, particularly, though not exclusively, for the Jewish people, will be fulfilled literally at the Second Coming, when Christ begins a 1,000 year reign on the earth, with the city of Jerusalem as His headquarters.
We presented the Premillennial view as the best interpretation of Scripture. We then talked about three events that will form the prelude to the Coming Kingdom. First, there is a current event—the regathering of the nation of Israel after 1900 years of dispersion throughout the nations of the world. This was prophesied in the Scriptures, was predicted by the premillennialist, and has come to pass in the lifetime of most of us here today. Secondly there is a tragic event yet to come: the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon. This seven-year period, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, is going to be a time of persecution and destruction like the world has never seen before, resulting in the deaths of 2/3 of the Jewish people and over half of the world’s population.
Thirdly, but not necessarily third chronologically, there will be a glorious event—the Rapture of the Church, at which time all dead believers will be resurrected and all living Christians will be changed into their resurrection bodies. This too is a prelude to the Millennial Kingdom. We did not try to tie down the chronology of these last two events, that is, try to determine whether the rapture precedes the Tribulation or follows it. However, Susan Wilson told me she knew the rapture was post-tribulational because she has already lived through 6 1/2 years of the time of Jacob’s trouble. Those of you who know little Jacob Wilson might have sympathy for Susan’s theology.
Seriously, several of you have talked to me about this issue and have asked about various Scripture references relating to the time of the rapture. I refer you to a fascinating book just published by Zondervan, entitled The Rapture, Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? It consists of a debate by three fine professors at our denominational seminary—Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and if it does nothing else, it should create a spirit of appreciation and tolerance for views other than the one you have personally hold. Today I want us to move on to the subject of the inhabitants of the Coming Kingdom.
The inhabitants of the Coming Kingdom
Obviously, to have a kingdom, you must have a king, and the Millennial Kingdom has a king par excellence.
The king. Isaiah 32:1 says, speaking of the Messianic Kingdom, “Behold, a king will reign righteously, and princes will rule justly.” To find out who that king is and what he is like, we need to turn back to Isaiah 9, a passage we examined two weeks ago. In verse 6 we read, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.” As one works his way through the book of Isaiah, additional information about the King is given, some of which we will examine in a bit more detail when we look at the characteristics of the Kingdom.
Martyrs from the Great Tribulation. This second category of inhabitant of the Millennial Kingdom is not mentioned specifically in the book of Isaiah, but it is noted clearly in Rev. 20:4. Just after mentioning the fact that Satan would be bound during the 1,000 year kingdom, the Apostle John writes (NIV):
“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
These may be Jewish martyrs converted by the message of the two witnesses mentioned in Rev. 11, or they could be Christian martyrs, if the Church goes through the Tribulation, or both. Whichever, these martyrs will be key figures in the Millennial reign of Christ, apparently serving in key leadership capacities.
Believing Jews converted at the Second Coming (60:1-22; Rom. 11:25-26). The sixtieth chapter of Isaiah makes it clear that Jewish people will be among the inhabitants in the Millennial Kingdom. The Bible I am reading from has as the heading for this chapter: “The Glory of Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.” Now, of course, the chapter headings are not inspired, but I believe this one is correct. We do not have time to examine the chapter in any detail, but consider several verses, 60:10-18:
And foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you; for in My wrath I struck you, and in My favor I have had compassion on you. And your gates will be open continually; they will not be closed day or night, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, and the nations will be utterly ruined. The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the box tree, and the cypress together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I shall make the place of My feet glorious. And the sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; and they will call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from generation to generation…. And I will make peace your administrators, and righteousness your overseers. Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.
Now contrast that description with the condition in Israel today. Foreigners are trying to tear down the country. The nation’s gates are closed in the sense that security is tighter there than perhaps anywhere else in the world. Rather than being a nation at peace, it is a nation which until Thursday was unable to even elect a government and had to come up with a coalition between the two main political parties. Instead of a nation of great wealth, it finds itself in the worst economic crisis of the free world, with inflation running at over 400%. Today there is violence, devastation, and destruction. But in the Messianic Kingdom, it’s going to be a different story.
Now I hasten to make clear that my conviction that the Jews are going to be key participants in the future Millennial kingdom does not mean I support everything that Israel does today. Israel is, by and large, a godless, secular state. The Jewish people are not worshipping their Messiah, in fact, are not looking for any Messiah at all. Some of their actions toward their Arab neighbors are flagrantly offensive, and their current attitude toward Messianic Jews is totally inexcusable. But according to the New Testament, and particularly the 11th chapter of Romans, all that is going to change at the end of the Tribulation. Having been hard-pressed by the armies of the north, south and east, and having lost 2/3 of their population in the great battle of Armageddon so that blood is running deep in the streets, the Jewish people are going to repent when they see their Messiah Jesus return to the Mount of Olives. From there Christ will destroy the great armies that have amassed themselves in one final effort to eradicate the Jewish state. These believing Jews will then become inhabitants of the Millennial Kingdom.
However, despite the key part the Jews will play in the Messianic Kingdom, they will not be its exclusive earthly inhabitants, for there will also be Gentiles present.
Gentiles (56:1-8). Gentiles, or foreigners, are specifically mentioned in Isaiah 56. Turn there with me, if you will, as we read 56:1-8:
Thus says the Lord, “Preserve justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come and My righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it; who keeps from profaning the sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people.” Neither let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”
This passage makes it clear that there will be no exclusions based on race, sex, or handicap. The Kingdom will be open to all who join themselves to the Lord.
The question, of course, rises, as to who these Gentiles are who enter the Kingdom. Well, if you believe in a pre- or mid-tribulational rapture, the Gentiles are probably those non-Jews who turn to God during that awful period of famine and destruction. They missed the Rapture, but they are allowed to enter the Kingdom in their earthly bodies. If you believe in a post-tribulational rapture, the Christians are all taken up at the moment of the Second Coming, so these Gentiles must be those who turn to God in repentance when Christ returns and begins to execute judgment on His enemies.
An objection to both these interpretations, not surprisingly, is that this gives people a second chance to accept Christ after the Second Coming. Perhaps it does; the only thing the Scriptures specifically deny is the possibility of a second chance after death. “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) . And since over half of the world’s population will die in that great conflagration, it ill behooves anyone to wager that he will live through it and turn to Christ when He appears. No doubt those who have actively rebelled against God or fought against His people Israel will not survive.
Characteristics of the Coming Kingdom
There will be a great thirst for spiritual truth. (2:2-3; 60:19-20) Spiritual life will thrive during the Millennium, principally because the glorified Christ will be present and will be the object of worldwide worship. Missionary effort will be unnecessary, for, according to Isa. 11:9, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
Listen to how Isaiah describes the spiritual interest of the inhabitants of the Millennium (Isa. 2:2-3):
“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.”
There will be peace and joy on earth. (2:4; 9:7; 61:3,7) Peace is one of the characteristics of the Millennium most frequently mentioned in Isaiah, and I believe the reason is to set up a contrast with human history up to this point. I read recently that there have been only 30 years out of the past 2,000 when there wasn’t war going on between two countries somewhere in the world. But listen to what Isaiah 2:4 says will happen in the Millennium: “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.” Those words have found themselves into the campaign speeches of nearly every Presidential candidate for the past two hundred years; they are engraved on the United Nations Building; they are quoted glibly by anti-nuclear demonstrators. But they do not describe any condition that will ever be achieved by the political efforts of man; rather it will be achieved only by the Son of Man, as He enforces peace on this earth. Isaiah 9:7 adds that “there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.”
Where there’s peace, of course, there is also joy, another commodity greatly lacking on this earth today. In Isaiah 61 we read that Christ will grant those who mourn “a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.” Later it adds, “Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.” Just the thought of everyone having a joyful look on their face makes one long for the Millennial Kingdom.
Righteousness and justice will be enforced. (32:1-6, 16-18) Turn with me to Isaiah 32:1-5.
“Behold, a king will reign righteously, and princes will rule justly. And each will be like a refuge from the wind, and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry country, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land. Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, and the ears of those who hear will listen. And the mind of the hasty will discern the truth, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly. No longer will the fool be called noble, or the rogue be spoken of as generous.”
Several problems are mentioned here that result in a lack of justice and righteousness in our society. Eyewitnesses are blind to the facts; people distort things they have heard. Others jump to conclusions. Fools are appointed to judgeships, and even occasionally to the Supreme Court. Rogues are considered generous. I never cease to be amazed how some of the wealthiest and greediest politicians manage to become the champions of the poor and disadvantaged, even though they have never personally sacrificed a nickel for the poor. I shouldn’t be amazed, for the Scriptures indicate that that tendency will be with us until the Millennium.
It will be a time of unparalleled health and prosperity. (35:5-6; 60:15-17; 65:21-23) Here we see the first evidence that the curse placed upon this earth because of Adam’s sin will apparently be lifted, at least partially. Unparalleled health will be one of the immediate results. Isaiah 35:5,6 says, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.”
Not only will physical health be the order of the day; but material prosperity will also be widespread. In Isaiah 65:21-23 we read: “And they shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat.” Still other passages tell us that God will cause the threshing floors to be full of grain, and the vats to be full of wine and oil, and that he will make up to His people the years the locusts have eaten. “And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.” (Joel 2:26).
Today certain radio preachers regularly proclaim their health-wealth theology to hopeful, gullible listeners, but what they teach has no support in God’s Word, not until the Millennium, that is.
Longevity will be the order of the day. (65:20) Isaiah 65:20 says, “No longer will there be in it (i.e., in the Kingdom) 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 shall be thought accursed.” A few verses later Isaiah says that “as the lifetime of a tree, so shall be the days of My people.” It may, of course, cross your mind to ask why there should be any death at all, and the answer is that while the Adamic curse seems to have been lifted, there is not a complete absence of sin in the Millennium. Things will be infinitely better off than they are now, but not until the New Heaven and New Earth are created at the end of the Millennium will sin be totally eradicated.
Creation will return to its Edenic state.
1. The plant kingdom (30:23; 32:15; 35:1-2, 6b-7). You know, when Adam and Eve sinned, the evil effects of that action came not only upon themselves, but also upon the land, the animals, and the whole creation. God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.” Every one of you who has tried to grow a garden, or keep a yard healthy, or preserve a Chinese elm tree, knows from experience that the curse God put on the ground is real and significant. During the Millennium, however, the effects of that curse will be lifted.
Compare what we just read from Genesis 3 with Isaiah 30:23: “Then He (i.e., God) 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.” In chapter 32 is added the fact that “the wilderness will become a fertile field and the fertile field like a forest.” In chapter 35 it says that “the desert will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely…. Waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. And the scorched land will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes.” Obviously, great changes will come upon the plant kingdom.
2. The animal kingdom (11:6-9; 65:25) Several weeks ago we read a fascinating portion of Isaiah 11, which I think deserves repeating, verses 6-9:
“And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 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.”
Just this past week a family in our church discovered a three-foot garter snake in their yard. I won’t name the family, but while little Timmy Moyer’s mother bravely scared off the vicious serpent with her screams, his father dispatched it with a garden hoe, breaking the hoe in the process. No need for a broken hoe in the Millennium, for a child will be able to play with a cobra, and his mother will have no fear. Once again, these words may be the favorites of politicians and liberal theologians, but it will never happen until the Edenic curse is lifted in the Messianic kingdom.
But there is one more difference that the Millennium will introduce, and that is related to the heavens and the earth themselves.
3. The heavens and earth (4:5-6). It says in Isaiah 4:5-6, “Then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.” I’m not sure all that is involved here, but my suspicion is that it is some combination of the cloud and pillar of fire that God graciously provided Israel during her wilderness wanderings, plus the greenhouse canopy that apparently covered the earth prior to the flood of Noah. This canopy, it is thought, protected the earth from the harmful rays of the sun and allowed a productivity that the earth has not known since that time.
Quickly we hasten to our final subject.
The Consummation of the Kingdom
We have noted from the first that the Millennial Kingdom is of only 1,000 years’ duration. Even if that figure is not to be taken as an exact period of time, it is obvious that if there is any kingdom at all, it is of finite, limited duration. What happens when it’s over? According to the Scripture, there are at least three major events that we can expect following the Millennial kingdom.
A final rebellion (Rev. 20:7-9). The fact that sin is not completely eradicated during the Millennium is obvious from the fact that at the end of it, Satan will make one last effort to overthrow the rule of God in the world, and he will find some support from the Millennial inhabitants. Let’s read Rev. 20:7-9.
“And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, (i.e., the city of Jerusalem), and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast (i.e., the Anti-Christ) and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
It would be fascinating to do a study of the many efforts that Satan has made to hinder the plan of God for the ages, particularly the plan of salvation. One can look at his temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden, at his instigation of the murder of the infants in Bethlehem, at his temptation of Christ, at his various attempts to kill Christ during his earthly ministry, at the Cross itself, at his numerous efforts to eradicate the church down through the ages, at his monumental effort to eliminate the people of God in the Battle of Armageddon, and finally his desperation move at the Battle of Gog and Magog. That will be his last opportunity, and he will fail.
The Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:4-6, 10-15). Continuing in Rev. 20, we read in verse 11:
“And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The chronology of Rev. 20 is a bit difficult, particularly if your Bible doesn’t put a parenthesis around the first part of verse 5. In fact, I would encourage you right now to put a parenthesis in your Bible from the beginning of verse 5 until after the word “completed.” (“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed”). The words, “This is the first resurrection,”refer back to verse 4, which speaks of the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs at the Second Coming, the beginning of the Millennium. That is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead are not resurrected until the 1,000 years are completed. That second resurrection is for the wicked to stand before the Great White Throne Judgment, the inevitable sentence from which will be the second death, or eternal spiritual death in the lake of fire, with the Devil and his angels.
A New Heaven and a New Earth (Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24). The last event of which the prophecy of Isaiah speaks is the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17 says, “For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” And the book of Isaiah ends with these words:
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “so your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorence to all mankind.”
That’s a rather mixed note for the book to end upon. There is the good news of the new heaven and new earth, but there is also the terribly solemn word about the eternal suffering of those who do not have their names written in the Book of Life. The Bible knows nothing about the doctrine of universalism, namely that everyone will eventually get to heaven, nor about the view that the wicked will be annihilated and cease to exist. We may not like it, but the teachings of the Bible are much more serious regarding the wicked.
Conclusion: In conclusion I want to read just a couple of verses from 2 Peter 3 designed for believers: “The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?”
And then from the last chapter of the Revelation I read: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the once who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”
The Day of the Lord may be near. The Kingdom may not be far off. The challenge for the believeris this: “What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?” And the challenge for the unbeliever is this: “Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” There is no penance God asks you to do. There is no amount of money he asks you to give. There is no service He asks you to perform. He simply asks you to receive the water of life. Centuries ago, Jesus said to a promiscuous woman of Samaria as they stood by Jacob’s well, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” Today you can drink deeply of the water of life by recognizing that Jesus died to save you from your sins.
DATE: September 16, 1984
Tags:
Prophecy
Kingdom of God
Kingdom, Millennial
Kingdom, Messianic
Amillennialism
Postmillennialism
Premillennialism
Tribulation, Great
Rapture
Plant Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
Great White Throne Judgment
New Heaven and New Earth