WHO CAUSED DEATH, DISEASE, AND SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD?

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For those Christians who believe in millions of years, it is only logical that the world as we see it today with all its groaning has gone on like this for millions of years before man. This then puts the blame on God for death, disease, and suffering. But God’s Word blames our sin!

No, one can’t add millions of years into Scripture. To do so is to attack the character of God and undermine the authority of the Word of God.

When God originally created everything, it was “very good.” There was no death, disease, or suffering. But because we (in Adam) sinned against our holy God (we committed high treason against God by our outright disobedience), God judged that disobedience with death and the curse (Genesis 3:14–19; Romans 5:12).

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… The good news is ”For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:12, 17

It must be remembered that there was a supernatural entity, Satan, involved in deceiving Eve and Adam into disobeying God. He is a fallen angel who we are told rebelled against God because he wanted to be God.

Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. He is the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31. These titles and many more signify Satan’s capabilities. To say, for example, that Satan is the “prince of the power of the air” is to signify that in some way he rules over the world and the people in it. This is not to say that he rules the world completely; God is still sovereign. But it does mean that God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed Satan to operate in this world within the boundaries God has set for him.

We know from Biblical prophecy that all of the O.T. prophets were told that their Messiah would eventually rule Israel (Acts 3:24), the nation God established for His purposes. Almost 2,000 Biblical prophecies are of Jesus’ return to this Earth first to rescue His Saints and pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world. Jesus then returns to Earth with the glorified Saints to rule and reign the nations with a rod of iron for 1000 years. Satan has ruled this world for 6,000 years but now he is bound in chains for most of the thousand years. He is released at the end of the thousand years and we are told that he is still able to raise an army of rebellious people to come against Jesus and the Saints. Fire from heaven consumes them and it is at this stage God destroys the old heaven and earth. Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom is a transition period.

It is after the second resurrection and the White Throne judgement that John sees a magnificent new Jerusalem descending from a new Heaven onto a new Earth where there will be no more death, disease, pain, or suffering. It will be a restoration (Acts 3:20–21). If death, disease, and suffering have been here since God created life, then it makes no sense that there will be a restoration to a new heaven and earth with no death and suffering.

INFORMATION ON JESUS’ MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

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I have found Reggie Kelly who hosts the website http://www.mysteryofisrael.org a tremendous resource for information on Jesus’ coming Millennial Kingdom on this Earth particularly to provide answers to questions such as “What Kind of Bodies will Israel have in the Millennium?:

  1. How is it possible that all of Israel will be saved and yet people will be going into the millennial reign of Christ on this Earth without being transformed and having new bodies?
  2. Will all Israel that’s a part of the church be transformed into heavenly bodies?
  3. How will people be going into the millennium without heavenly bodies?

First, we need to know what the text says? Second, what is the evidence for how the biblical writers expected to be understood? Were they correct in how they understood their own prophecies? Or was there a deeper, allegorical meaning that eluded their limited understanding? Was their interpretation of what Yahweh spoke merely a reflection of a “primitive, nationalistic, time-bound” understanding that would someday be replaced by a different interpretation that could not have been understood or recognized by the prophets or their contemporaries? That’s the hermeneutical question in debate.

After establishing the plain person’s reading of plain language, we can then begin to look for light as to how certain antinomies (difficulties/paradoxes) can be reconciled without violence to the original author’s intention.

The very meaning of the millennium is at stake here. Why should God make such a point of ending the age around the “controversy of Zion”, a conflict that is destined to draw all nations into an insoluble, inescapable dilemma over the Land and people of Israel that sets off the final world conflict? (Isaiah 34:8; Zechariah 12:2-3).

It will be a kind of valley of decision designed to test hearts, primarily over the issue of the nature of saving grace and the ‘kind’ of righteousness (not one’s own but the Lord’s alone) that can stand in the judgment. In other words, why should God be so determined to save an elect remnant of ethnic Jews (“natural branches”) unless it is to set forth the wayward nation that was given an irrevocable divine election as the statement and demonstration of His free and sovereign prerogative to change and qualify them for a final and secure inheritance of the Land by predestined grace.

He has set them at the center of the nations, that He might show in them for a thousand years of public demonstration, the power of His ability to choose whom He will, and quicken whom He will (Mt 11:27; Jn 5:21; Ro 9:18) at the “set time” of His choosing (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Isa 30:18; Gal 1:15-16), and thus finally and forever preserve, not only them but each and every one of their children after them in abiding holiness, never again to depart (Isa 59:20-21; Jer 32:40, et al.).

Why? What’s God out to prove? What’s His point?

The design/purpose is to press upon the consciousness of the nations God’s faithfulness to His immutable covenant word that most of the world doesn’t even know exists, as multitudes are even now being preconditioned to despise and dismiss His word by the events that are swiftly hurling us to the time of final reckoning.

That covenant (called synonymously “new” and “everlasting”) is not fully complete or satisfied (in all its original terms) until there is not a living Jew on the post-tribulation earth that is not born again and preserved in the “everlasting salvation” of the “everlasting righteousness” of Christ throughout the entirety of the millennial interim as an all holy nation, “never again” to depart (Isa 45:17, 25; 59:20-21; 60:21; Jer 31:34; 32:37-41, Dan 9:24, with so many more that could be listed ).

This uniformity of a completely saved and eternally preserved Jewish population at peace in their own, covenanted Land is the goal of the covenant, since only then will the long-blinded Jewish nation have their spiritual eyes opened. A coming day when the blind shall see, and those who always before resisted the Spirit opposer shall learn doctrine is promised all throughout Moses and the prophets (compare Deut 29:4 with Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-6; Isa 29:18, 24; Acts 7:51).

Only when, not a mere remnant, but “all” the people are righteous (Isa 60:21; Jer 31:34), with eternal righteousness not their own (Isa 45:24; 54:17; Jer 23:5-6; Dan 9:24), can they fulfill the covenant conditions and thus keep the Land forever in abiding peace and security.

This will be possible because the tendency to backslide and come back under the curses of the covenant will be forever cured by the everlasting righteousness of the everlasting covenant. No more will the righteous remnant suffer the sins and exile of the larger apostate nation, since all will be preserved in new covenant righteousness forever, “world without end” (Isa 45:17).

It is one thing for God to bring the Jews into the Land, but a radical transformation is required for them to be assured of permanent security in the Land. This is the very thing the everlasting/new covenant guarantees. From this, it is clear to see why the prophets understood that nothing short of a climactic, apocalyptic day of the Lord could ever bring about such a radical and permanent change in the whole of the nation.

More specifically, not all the nation but only the remnant who escaped death arrive at that ultimately transformative day (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; 13:8-9; Mt 23:39; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7) .

This is why, not only a remnant, but the entirety of the nation must “all” know Him (Jer 31:34; Eze 39:22, 28-29) for them to be able to keep the Land forever, as promised in the plain language of the covenant. As I like to say, “For the Jews to inherit the Land forever, they must have a righteousness that is forever”.

This righteousness, which is the Lord’s own righteousness (Isa 45:24-25; 54:7; Jer 23:5-6), must extend, not only to a remnant but the whole of the nation and all the children born to them in future generations, lest the tendency to backslide send them back under the curses of the broken covenant.

This “everlasting righteousness”, which is none of their own, but the Lord’s alone, is that righteousness that was perfected in the Son and imputed to the believer whose faith is counted for righteousness. This righteousness, once imputed, is invariably made manifest by the gift and fruits of the enlivening Holy Spirit.

Of course, all of this applies now to every true-born believer of this age and the assurance of eternal inheritance in the age to come (both the millennium and the new heavens and earth), but God intended an earthly demonstration of His ability to accomplish this divine, self-assigned “mission impossible” here, on this earth with the Jewish people, at the scene of the crime, so to speak, in the presence of a helplessly bound enemy (Satan).

This grace needed to be exhibited and put on display by weak, natural jars of clay, supernaturally upheld in holiness by the gift of the Holy Spirit and nothing of human power.

Manifestly, God has set this interim period as the demonstration of His ability, not only “to graft them in again” but to keep them in, forever!. This requires an interim that is a glorious advance on the present age, yet short of the final, ultimate perfection that follows the millennium.

This newly and suddenly saved remnant of penitent survivors (like Paul’s sudden arrest on the Damascus road) will enter the millennium in their natural bodies and be assisted back to their Land by surviving Gentiles. Compare Isa 14:2; 40:22; 60:9; 66:20; Zech 8:23). Manifestly, these survivors from among the nations did not take the mark, but were also not yet born again (not yet “in Christ”) at the time of the last trump, when Jesus was revealed from heaven (Isa 26:12-13 with Mt 24:29-31; 1Cor 15:52).

Many scriptures speak of this sudden salvation of the surviving remnant of penitent Jewish survivors at the Lord’s post-trib return (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Isa 59:17-21; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Eze 39:22, 28-29; Zech 3:9; 12:10; Mt 23:39; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; with Rev 1:7) with the result that now, an all saved Jewish population will never again backslide and fall back under covenant judgment, but “all”, from the least to the greatest will know the Lord (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:34; 32:40; Eze 37:25; 39:22). This is the O.T. context behind Paul’s statement, “and so all Israel shall be saved”.

This sudden national salvation of a surviving remnant is everywhere shown to take place on the post-tribulation day of the Lord. Its purpose is the open and public vindication of “My covenant with them (natural branches) when I shall (future) take away their (the irrevocably elect and no less beloved enemy’s) sin …”

Several scriptures show very definitely that the time Paul has in view is the post-trib day of the Lord, which the N.T. obviously equates with Christ’s return. When Jesus arrives in glory, the dead in Christ, together with all those alive in Christ at the time, will be changed in an instant, immediately translated into glorified immortality.

At the same time (“in one day”; Ps 102:13; 110:3; Isa 66:8; Zech 3:9; Eze 39:22; Mt 23:39; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7); a surviving remnant of Jews, having just been brought to the end of their power (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7), “look upon their pierced Messiah”, and immediately go apart to weep in deepest contrition, as when Joseph revealed himself to his estranged brethren (compare Gen. 45 with Mic 5:3-4; Zech 12:10; Mat 23:39; Rev 1:7). After the great purgation of tribulation judgment, the newly saved Jewish remnant (Eze 20:33-40; Amos 9:9-10) goes into the millennium in natural, albeit Spirit filled bodies (Eze 39:22, 28-29).

Now, with it established that the scripture is very clear that a surviving remnant will make up the newly born nation, entering the post-tribulation kingdom in natural bodies, returning by every natural means of transport back to the Land to build and plant, to raise families, and witness to the nations, the question is naturally raised, “what will be the relationship of those who enter the millennial kingdom in their natural bodies and those who have been translated at the rapture?”

When taken together, the cumulative evidence of scripture creates what can be called a “necessary inference”. I believe the puzzle is only solved, with due respect to all that the scripture says, by recognizing what I like to call, a “dimensional divide”.

The mystery of the rapture is not a mystery as to its time. That is no mystery (compare Hos 13:14; Isa 25:7-8; 27:12-13; Mt 24:29-31 with 1 Cor 15:5-54 ). The mystery has to do with a ‘dimensional divide’ between those who will be putting on resurrected bodies with capacities that are like the angels and like the Lord in His post-resurrection appearances for the purpose of spiritual rule, (as for example, ruling over 5 or 10 cities), but in a realm of existence, not any less on earth, but not immediately visible to saved and unsaved mortals in the millennium (compare Mt 19:28; 22:30; Lk 19:17:18; 1Cor 13:12).

There is so much more that can help clarify and harmonize, but the greatest problem (other than failure to fully depend on the Spirit for the mercy of illumination) is the lack of O.T. literacy on the popular level, and on the scholarly level, the tendency to embrace of a set of apriori presuppositions that seeks to harmonize the testaments by a radical method of reinterpretation and spiritualization. It’s a great, historic deficiency in the church due to centuries of neglect of the OT and artificial, unsatisfactory solutions that fail to convincingly harmonize the Testaments.

The second point implicit in the questions is the relationship of the body to national Israel:

To be clear, Israel can only be saved as it becomes the body of Christ by the transforming, regenerating revelation of Christ. If they are alive to God, they are “in Christ”, and thus part of His body sharing in the unity of the Spirit, equally with all saints, whether Jew or Gentile.

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:17

In the natural order, there is a necessary and crucial distinction between Israel and the church, just as between male and female. But there is no distinction at all in the unity of the one new man, that is all who know the Lord, whether in times past, in this age, or in the millennial age to come.

This unity of the Spirit in the God-Man is not a new truth, but an old truth that has come to full light in the revelation of the mystery. (Remember this: something that is newly revealed, or has come to much greater light, does not mean that it did not exist before, just as the revelation of Jesus has brought much clearer light on the triune nature of the Godhead. Yet no one would say that such a new revelation created something that did not exist before).

In distinguishable contrast from the one new man of the Spirit, natural Israel and the supernatural preservation of Jewish identity throughout the generations, belongs to a corporate election that does not guarantee the salvation of any individual in the set-apart nation. Instead, precisely because of the covenant mandate, belonging to the Jewish race commends the covenant breaker to a “double” discipline, as foretold in scripture and witnessed throughout history.

So when Israel comes to faith on that day, they will be no less the living body of Christ, albeit with a unique and special calling, role, and stewardship to be lived out openly in the presence of the nations throughout the millennium.

Thus, the millennium exists primarily for this open covenant vindication and demonstration of every word and aspect of His everlasting covenant, to be lived out in literal detail before the nations and also the onlooking principalities and powers. This will show for a thousand years of open, fully visible demonstration that God was indeed able, not only to bring the people He first brought out of Egypt back into the Land, but now, because of an “everlasting righteousness” (namely, the righteousness of the Son), eternally secure to one and all, they will abide, preserved in holiness and peace in the Land, within the originally specified borders of the promise.

We are led then to infer, most necessarily based on 1 Cor 15:50-52, that all who come to faith during the millennium, with any who die in the Lord during the millennium, will be raised with their new body at the end of the millennium when the great transition to the new heavens and earth follows the final rebellion.

If that explanation does not fully satisfy every question, it is also to be considered that there is a mystery about time in the realm of the Spirit as it intersects with natural historical time. In any event, lingering questions must not be permitted to impose on the clarity of what the text plainly ‘SAYS’.

May the kind Shepherd, “come alongside”, and cause our hearts to burn within us, as He opens to us the Scriptures.

Reggie

HOW DIFFERENT IS THE MILLENNIAL JERUSALEM FROM THE ETERNAL JERUSALEM

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The following chart is taken from the Kress Biblical Resources: Diagram 6—Comparison of Millennial Jerusalem and Eternal Jerusalem. Go to http://www.blueletterbible.org for some excellent Biblical resources.

The eternal Jerusalem is enormous. There will certainly be a place there for all of God’s children. However, first, we have the Millennial Jerusalem. Jesus and the Saints will rule on this Earth for another one thousand years. Jesus must rule and reign over the nations until he has put all of His enemies under His feet.

MILLENNIAL JERUSALEMETERNAL JERUSALEM
CITYCITY
Ezekiel 42:15-20 He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the profane. (1 X 1 mile, temple area)
Ezekiel 48:15-17 1.65 X 1.65 miles for the city.		Revelation 21:16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
WALLSWALLS
Isaiah 60:10 “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.
Ezekiel 40:5 875 ft. X 10 ½ ft. high and 10 ½ ft. wide on each side (temple complex)		Revelation 21:17-20 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.
GATESGATES
Isaiah 60:11-12 “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.”
Ezekiel 48:30-34 Gates have names of 12 tribes.		Revelation 21:21 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
Revelation 21:25-26 “In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed, and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;…”
Rev 21:12-14 Gates have names of 12 tribes & and each gate was one pearl.
TEMPLETEMPLE
Revelation 21:4 “… and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passedRev 21:22 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
DEATHDEATH
Isaiah 65:20 “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.”Revelation 21:4 “… and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed
RIVERRIVER
Ezekiel 47:1 “Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east.”
Zechariah 14:8 “In that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea.”		Revelation 22:1-2 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of the street…”
TREESTREES
Ezekiel 47:7 “Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other.”
Zechariah 14:8 “In that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea.”		Revelation 22:2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
LIGHTSLIGHTS
Isaiah 30:26 “The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.”Isaiah 60:19-20 “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. 20 “Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over.
Revelation 21:22 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

GOD ESTABLISHED THE NATION ISRAEL FOR HIS PURPOSES

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God chose the man Moses to establish His nation to bring them out of captivity in Egypt with great miracles. His life is miraculous from the beginning but note how God had to humble Moses after his time in Pharaoh’s court.

Pharaoh, shortly before Moses’ birth, decreed the death of all Hebrew male children. Moses’ mother Jochebed carried out a plan to save her child. She put him in a small ark and placed it in the reeds along the river hoping someone would find Moses and let him live. Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby and immediately adopts him. Miriam (Moses’ sister), who serves the princess, suggests and arranges for her mother to nurse the child.

Moses grew up taught and trained in Pharaoh’s court. From the age of twenty to forty he was “mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). He, according to historian Josephus, became general of the Egyptian army and led a successful campaign against the Ethiopians (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, Chapter 10).

God then humbled him with 40 years in the wilderness as a herdsman before commissioning him through the burning bush experience. Nevertheless, he now needs Aaron as his spokesman.

After bringing the Jews out of Egypt, because of unbelief, Moses had to lead them another 40 years in the wilderness until that generation died. Because of one significant act of disobedience, God did not allow Moses to go into the Promised Land. Mind you, Moses eventually went into the Promised Land about 1400 years later with Elijah in glorified bodies to meet Jesus and three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.

What is astounding is that God shows Moses Israel’s future and tells him to tell it to the people before he dies and they go into their land. It is called the Song of Moses and it includes them departing from God’s commandments and being cast out of the land and scattered throughout the world. Fortunately, Moses was shown that God would eventually regather them from all around the world back to the land He had promised them. Note how the Song of Moses ends.

“For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and none is remaining, bond or free... Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land. “Deuteronomy 32:36, 41-43

Before Israel went into the Promised Land under Joshua they were told their entire history. No wonder Jews are still Jews regardless of where God has scattered them. Moreover, God has begun to bring them back to their land and whilst they will go through intense persecution under the Antichrist we know from Biblical prophecy that Jesus will return to rescue them at the Battle of Armageddon and set up His Millennial Kingdom.

“And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:2-6

WHAT IS AHEAD FOR 2024?

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The fact is the world is headed into a darker future. God has revealed in His Word exactly how this world will end. The good news is that Satan’s hold on the world is soon coming to an end and then we will have 1000 years of Jesus and the resurrected saints ruling the nations from a totally restored Jerusalem. Israel will be the head nation operating from God’s allotted borders as shown in this picture.

At an extremely low point in the disciples lives: Jesus had told them that he was going to be killed and the temple destroyed so they came to Jesus with the following question.

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3

Jesus gave them this answer:

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“Then they will deliver you (Christians) up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:7-14

What Jesus revealed to them is further proof of the authenticity of God’s Word. Why! because what Jesus prophesied is being fulfilled in our day. Also if you were starting up a new, albeit, false religion is this the way you would do it? I don’t think so: “Then they will deliver you (Christians) up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.“

Jonathan Cahn opens up the prophetic developments and events of 2023 and where it’s leading into 2024 – The apostasy, the attack of Hamas and the war in Israel, the Pope’s seismic decree, and more.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE MILLENNIUM

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The Kingdom of God has several phases. One important but neglected Kingdom phase is the Millennium as it is a future transition phase on this Earth. Much of the church teaches that the millennium is being fulfilled today and yet the Bible teaches that it follows prophesied events that are yet to occur: worldwide tribulation, cosmic signs, the wrath of God, the rescue of God’s people, and the judgement of nations. Testimony of the millennium is found in both testaments of the Bible. The Old Testament prophets tell of a future time when Israel’s prophesied Messiah will rule all the nations of Earth. It is a time very different from our present age and the coming eternal state with a new Heaven and a new Earth. The New Testament tells us how long this intermediate period will be – one thousand years.

Since the Fall of Man, God has enacted a plan to bring this rebel planet back into conformity with His universal kingdom in which His will is perfectly done. Part of this plan is for His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to rule the nations, including his enemies from Jerusalem. Israel is restored, the nation God established for His purposes. Jesus and the Saints will rule the nations with a rod of iron (see Psalm 2: The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed, Psalm 110, and Rev. 2:26-27).

“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron…” Revelation 2:26

Jesus must fulfill the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants and rule over the planet that rejected Him. When this phase of the Kindom is completed this world will be destroyed. The rest of the dead are raised to face Jesus at the White Throne judgement. God creates a new heaven and new earth where only the righteous will dwell, at which time Jesus will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.

JESUS’ MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

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Beginning with Moses almost 1900 Scriptures tell us about the culmination of God’s work on planet Earth, Jesus second coming to Earth and ruling and reigning the nations with the resurrected Saints for 1000 years. The Earth will have had 6000 years under the rule of Satan and his demons. It will soon have 1000 years with Jesus and the resurrected Saints ruling righteously. After 7000 years this fallen world will be destroyed and God creates a new heaven and new Earth where only the righteous dwell (Revelation 21).

The nation God created for His purposes must fulfill its destiny. Israel will be the lead nation. Jerusalem will be the capital of the world on a summit where Jesus’ home will sit, a massive temple.

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.“ Deuteronomy 30:1-3

“And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:5-6

The covenants that God made with Abraham (unconditional), David, and the new covenant must be fulfilled.

The Abrahamic Covenant: Numbers 34:1-12 outlines the exact borders Israel is to possess; the nation of Israel has yet to encompass these specific boundaries.

The Davidic Covenant: 2 Samuel 7 is the promise that God made to David that David’s heir would sit on the throne of Israel forever. Jesus is that heir, but He has yet to take His physical, political birthright.

The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-33 outlines the promise that Israel as a nation will return to God and worship their Messiah. These covenants will be fulfilled during the 1000-year reign.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke… For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33 & Hebrews 8:8-12

DID JESUS COME TO START A RELIGION?

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No, He did not. He came to set up a Kingdom and the only prayer He taught us to pray is

“Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven“… only then do we ask for our daily needs.

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:29-34

Next on God’s agenda for His Earth is for Jesus to set up a Kingdom on Earth where Jesus and the glorified Saints will rule and reign for 1000 years. God’s Word tells us exactly how Satan’s rule comes to an end. He is bound in the Abyss for most of Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom. He is released at the end and is still able to raise an army like the sand of the sea to come against Jesus and the Saints. I am reminded here of the time before God destroyed all of mankind except Noah and his family.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” Genesis 6:5-6

How many churches are preparing believers for Jesus’ coming Millennial Kingdom on planet Earth? I would say very few, they are not even preparing them for the coming tribulation. The seven churches in Revelation represent the church in each of the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return and God pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (7) and Bowl (7) judgments. Also, the six seals show us what will happen on Earth during the last seven years. Let us look at the Sixth Seal and the Sixth Church.

SIXTH SEAL: The celestial signs in the sky that precede the Rapture of the Saints and God pouring out His wrath upon the Earth. The Rapture happens at the trumpet blast and the opening of the seventh seal.

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12-17

SIXTH CHURCH (Church of Philadelphia – Philadelphus means “love of the brethren“) This is the church that God is going to rapture

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:7-8,10

The seventh church (Laodicea means “judgment of the people,”) This is the church God is going to spit out of His mouth. They will face the wrath of God but note, that God still calls them to repent (Rev. 3:14-22).

“They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

ISRAEL’S RETURN, JUDGEMENT & THE MILLENNIUM

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Jonathan Cahn preaches on the many end-times prophecies, starting with the rebirth of Israel and the great falling away in denominational institutional churches and ending with the coming Millennial reign of Jesus from a restructured/rebuilt Jerusalem.

Jonathan like many born-again leaders knows we are in the last days before Jesus returns and is preparing his congregation for what is ahead. My only concern is that he does not address the timing of The Rapture and the fact Christians need to prepare for the coming tribulation, even great tribulation. As Jesus and Paul told the disciples that they would see the Abomination of Desolation (Antichrist) (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) seated in the Temple declaring himself to be God. This takes place midway through the last seven years before Jesus returns to Earth with the Saints. The Rapture timing is at the end of the sixth year, the sixth seal, and the sixth church (church of Philadelphia).

SIXTH SEAL (Celestial signs that precede Jesus coming to rapture the Saints and signals the great day of God’s wrath has come): “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12-17

CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA: “Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:8,10

Moreover, the Church of Laodicea is the church that is left behind to face the wrath of God which hopefully leads to repentance and saving faith.

GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON’S ROLES IN ESCHATOLOGY

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Psalm 2 is just one of many End Times prophecies. It shows sinful nations in their rebellion against the Father and His Messiah (the Son). We know that God’s King is Jesus the Son since later portions of Scripture apply Psalm 2 to the Messiah and His reign (Revelation 2:26–27). Also, Psalm 2:12 speaks of the necessity of paying “homage to the Son,” an act of worship that is only true of a divine person and not a mere man. Thus the picture of Psalm 2 includes both God the Father and God the Son. The nations of the earth do not want God to rule over them (Psalm 2:1–3). But God the Father laughs and scoffs at these rebellious nations from heaven and lets them know that He will establish His “King” and His reign on the earth (Psalm 2:4–5). The realm of their rebellion will be invaded with the reign of the righteous Messiah. It is the Father’s desire to give the Son the nations as an inheritance and the Son will rule over them with authority (Psalm 2:7–9). Thus, the nations should stop their foolishness and submit to the Son because His wrath is coming (Psalm 2:10–12). Psalm 2 reveals two important things. First, God the Father intends to establish His Son as King over all the earth and the nations. And second, the Son will come with wrath and reign over the nations with authority.

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” Psalms 2:1-12

We can know that the fulfillment of Psalm 2 is future since Jesus uses this passage as motivation for the church for faithful service now in Revelation 2:26–27:

“He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father.” Revelation 2:26-27

Psalm 110 has much in common with Psalm 2, as it also discusses the Father’s plan to establish the Son as King over the earth. It starts with David being privy to a conversation between the Father (Yahweh) and the Son (Adonai) who is also David’s Lord (“The LORD says to my Lord”). The message from the Father to the Son is that the Son, who is David’s Lord, the Messiah, is to have a session in heaven at the right of the Father. But this session is only for a limited period of time (“until”). When His session at the right hand of the Father is over, God the Father will give the Messiah (the Son) victory over His enemies from Zion in Jerusalem: The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies” (Ps. 110:2). The Son will shatter kings in the day of His wrath and will judge the nations (Ps. 110:5–6). So again, as was the case in Psalm 2, it is the Father’s plan for the Son to reign over the nations of the earth. This will occur with Jesus’ second coming to earth as described in Matthew 24–25 and Revelation 19–20.

Daniel 7:9-14 describes an important eschatological scene involving the Father and the Son. Daniel 7:9–10 describes a glorious scene of God the Father who is called “the Ancient of Days.

”We are told His vesture “was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool” (9). His throne is ablaze with flames and thousands were worshiping Him. Then verses Daniel 7:13–14 describe the Son, who is referred to as a “Son of Man,” coming before the Father:

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14

Here we see the Son before the Father, for the purpose of a kingdom being given to the Son. This passage has many parallels with the throne room scene of Revelation 4–5 and again emphasizes the plan of the Father to have the Son rule the earth with “an everlasting dominion.”

A New Testament passage that discusses the relationship of the Father and the Son to eschatology is 1 Corinthians 15:24–28. Here Paul discusses the Father and the Son in relation to the coming kingdom:

“Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. FOR HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

The immediate context of this passage is Paul’s discussion of the order of God’s resurrection program. After the third stage of the resurrection program at the time of “the end,” Jesus will hand the kingdom over to God the Father (24). This shows that Jesus’ messianic reign has a termination or transition point to it. When it is over He “hands over the kingdom” to the Father. But this will not occur until Jesus reigns over His enemies and abolishes death. Thus, Jesus’ kingdom ends or transitions with a crushing, dominating reign of the Son. When “all things are subjected” to the Father, “then the Son Himself also will be subjected to” the Father (“the One who subjected all things to Him”). The picture here is beautiful and presents Jesus as God’s trusted and chosen instrument to restore the fallen creation to the will of God. Verse 27a links the Son’s reign with the creation mandate given to man––“FOR HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” Jesus as the ultimate Man fulfills the creation mandate. Man was created to rule and subdue the earth (see Genesis 1:26–28), yet this mandate was scorned when Adam decided to do things his way and disobey God. Neither Adam nor any mere human being could fulfill this mandate, but the Father chose Jesus, the ultimate Man, to do this. It is as if the Father told the Son, “Bring this sinful world back into conformity with My perfect will,” and the Son does it. And not only does the Son succeed splendidly, He presents this kingdom to the Father so that the Father may have the glory.

SUMMARY: These four passages teach us that the purpose of the Father in eschatology is to make sure the rebellious creation is brought back into perfect conformity with His will. And the purpose of the Son is to make sure the Father’s desire happens. He is sent as the Father’s instrument with full authority and power to rule over and restore all of the created order. As we survey Psalm 2; Psalm 110; Dan 7:9–14; and 1 Cor. 15:24–28 we see that it is God the Father’s intent to establish a kingdom reign of the Son (Jesus) on the earth to bring this fallen planet back into conformity with the will of the Father.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6