IN THE MILLENNIUM, ISRAEL WILL TRULY LEAD THE WAY WITH TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

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Water and blessing go together. Look what Israel has done to transform their land. Water was critical to establishing a nation in what was desert land. Turning seawater into drinking water was essential. Reusing wastewater was another essential element of the solution. Both have been accomplished by the Jews. What an amazing nation God has established to accomplish His purposes.

Even before they went into the Promised Land Moses told them their entire checkered history, including their being cast out of the land and dispersed throughout the nations but also the end of the story when God would regather them and their Messiah will rule the nations and they will be a people, “holy to the Lord your God”.

“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 if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” Deuteronomy 28:1

“And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.” Deuteronomy 28:13

“And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honour high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.” Deuteronomy 26:18-19

“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

With Jesus and the Saints ruling and reigning in the Millennium, Israel will continue to lead the way with innovation and development.

In this episode of Insights Israel & the Middle East, host Mati Shoshani sits down with some of the key people who made Israel’s current water surplus possible. Get an inside look at Jerusalem’s new water system that solved a chronic water shortage nationwide, and how it could be the future catalyst to supply water to neighboring nations as well. You will get to journey through Israel as Mati unpacks the oldest questions with modern insights and the stories of the people behind it all.

God said He would bless those nations that bless Israel but also curse nations that curse Israel. Israel is already being a blessing to the world with new innovations. It is the Start-Up nation second only to the US in new patents and new technologies.

One of the Holy Grails along the road toward making electric cars is improving battery range and charging time.

Startups such as StoreDot in Israel are working on a “100 miles in five minutes” charging time solution, but most batteries for electric vehicles currently require 35 to 40 minutes to get to an 80 percent charge with a dedicated fast charger or overnight with a home charger.

Israeli startup EExion is now joining the fray with its “Energize-N’-Go” energy-storage technology that can rapid-charge e-mobility vehicles in just five minutes.

While StoreDot replaces the graphite in the battery with a mix of metalloids including silicon and other proprietary organic compounds, EExion uses next-generation carbon electrodes – claimed to charge a battery 100 times faster than today’s lithium-ion batteries, the industry standard for EVs.

EExion’s CTO, David Malka, says the startup’s technology “provides a long-lasting, exceptionally efficient energy source at a considerably lower cost, with a zero to full charge in minutes, while retaining specific energy to an almost unlimited number of cycles.”

EExion’s batteries reportedly keep working for over 30,000 recharging cycles. Lithium-ion batteries only last for 300 to 500 charging cycles.

Energize-N’-Go uses chemically manipulated supercapacitors, a technology that already powers the regenerative braking in electric cars, buses, trains, and even elevators.

By eliminating lithium, battery production is less harmful to the environment. Moreover, lithium, like another key electric battery component, cobalt, is becoming increasingly scarce.

Check out http://www.millennialkingdom.net. It is being established to prepare believers to rule and reign with Jesus in the Millennium.

WHAT YOU WILL NOT SEE IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF GOD

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Man’s attempts to glorify himself

The Burj Khalifa, this skyscraper is just over half a mile in height, making it the tallest building ever constructed. A reminder of the Tower of Babel. “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves,” Genesis 11:4

The Burj Al Arab hotel boasts having the highest tennis court in the world, but you have to make sure to keep the ball in the court…otherwise, you’ll never get it back!

  • Tallest building in the world
  • Tallest free-standing structure in the world
  • Highest number of stories in the world
  • Highest occupied floor in the world
  • Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
  • Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
  • Tallest service elevator in the world

WHAT YOU WILL SEE IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF GOD

The wise use of technology such as Nuclear Fusion for the production of power. Nuclear fusion is the process of taking two separate nuclei and combining them to form a different nucleus. Here’s a very easy way to think about it: Nuclear fusion is what generates energy that is emitted from the sun.

In agriculture, we might well see the production of food using the latest technology. This is already happening in places like Israel and the two projects shown here.

Green architecture: growing food in high-rise buildings close to where it will be consumed so it is fresh. This picture is of Singapore Vertical Farms Using the latest drip technology.

Modular A-Frame construction

This vertical farming system, called “A-Go-Gro” technology, grows vegetables in A-shaped towers, each of six meters tall. These modular A-frames are quick to install and easy to maintain. Each tower consists of 22 to 26 tiers of growing troughs, which are rotated around the aluminium tower frame at a rate of 1mm per second to ensure uniform distribution of sunlight, good airflow, and irrigation for all the plants. The plants don’t get overstressed under the sun… at the same time they can get nutrients in the water equally.

This farming system generates significantly higher yields than traditional growing methods — they are safe, of high quality, fresh, and delicious. Large varieties of tropical vegetables are grown, such as Chinese cabbage, spinach, lettuce, Xia bai Cai, Bayam, Kang kong, Cai Xin, Gai lan, Nai bai, etc.

The vertical farming system is housed in a protected environment of PVC roofing and netted walls to enable the cultivation of tropical leafy vegetables under natural sunlight, all year round. All these efficiencies ensure that production costs are kept low. Operational costs include raw materials like soil and seed and electricity to pump the water driving the structures. The rotation system does not need an electrical generator. It is powered by a unique gravity-aided water-pulley system that uses only one litre of water, which is collected in a rainwater-fed overhead reservoir. This method also boasts a very low carbon footprint as the energy needed to power one A-frame is the equivalent of illuminating just one 60-watt light bulb. The water powering the frames is recycled and filtered before returning to the plants. All organic waste on the farm is composted and reused.

Robbe's little garden plants in violet light.

Robbe’s Little Garden is a Finnish greenhouse construction company specializing in hybrid greenhouse-vertical farming solutions, its first hybrid farm having been built in 2015 and including 500-square meters of growing space. Two years later, Robbe’s Little Garden built a four-layered vertical farm with a footprint of 4,400 square meters. Now, the company is working on its largest hybrid farm to date, which will be built in 2022 and span 11,000 square meters. The farm will produce arugula, spinach, and baby leaf greens to reduce Finland’s reliance on field-grown products imported from southern Europe. The hybrid system has a polycarbonate roof. However, it’s a completely controlled environment that will allow Robbe’s Little Garden to fully adapt to Finland drastic seasonal variations. The system will also be equipped with 500 kW of solar panels to power the farm’s LED lighting and cooling system during the summertime. Our products are going to be crazy fresh compared to imported products,” says Robert Jordas, owner of Robbe’s Little Garden. “We’re talking about minutes or a few hours after harvest, as compared to days or weeks for imported products.”

In the 11,000-square meter facility, Robbe’s Little Garden will only need two people for the production/growing area and five people in the packing area thanks to a fully automated system. This, as Robert explains, will help to keep the farm competitive within Finland but also prove its potential for other countries as well.

In Finland, vertical farming is already well established for the production of herbs and lettuce. By combining highly efficient technology with the market demand for local arugula, spinach, and baby leaf lettuce, Robbe’s Little Garden is pushing closer to Finnish food security every day.

DO NOT LOSE HEART

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“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Where is your focus fixed? On the things that are transient or things that are eternal. Up to the age of 47 my focus was totally on things of this world. I was managing director of The Ramsay Group, at the time, the largest surgical, dental, scientific and medical educational company in Australia. I had a waterfront home and all the trappings of success. You can read my story in the book Build a Kingdom Business – Empowered by the Holy Spirit. What is my current focus? It is on living eternal now.

available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback from me ron@bakb.com.au

As Jesus return to this earth is not too far distant we need to start preparing to rule and reign with Jesus during the Millennium. Jesus has unfinished business with Israel. Every O.T. prophet was given a vision of their Messiah ruling and reigning the nations from a new Jerusalem. This will happen, but not prior to Christians being tested through a time of tribulation unlike anything experienced previously. Jesus told us to watch and be prepared (1 Peter 4:12-14).

God has also revealed that the resurrected saints will rule and reign with Jesus. The thousand years is a transition period from this current world which is largely ruled by Satan. He will be defeated at the end of this period, chained and cast into the Abyss for 1000 years. Even though Satan is not around to tempt people during the Millennium we are told that Jesus and the saints still need to rule with a rod of iron. At the end of the thousand years Satan and His minions are released and He is still able to raise an enormous army to come against Jesus and the Saints. Jesus of course destroys the army and Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire. God then destroys this earth with fire. The White Throne Judgement takes place after all the dead have been raised to life. Then what? John was shown the following vision.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

“And he (Angel) carried me (John) away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia (2000 km/1250 m). Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21: 10-27

FUTURE OF AMERICA – Part 2

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2020 has proven to be a challenging year for Christians. But I believe God is using Covid to get His church to move back to church as He had planned it as described in the Book of Acts, largely house churches. Good examples of how God has used catastrophe to refine His church are China and even more recently nations such as Iran. Persecution has refined His church to get it to be totally dependent upon Him, even for survival.

Christians must meet in person for corporate worship. On line communication is a dreadful replacement for real community. Come pandemic or martyrdom, we must find a way to meet in person. Isolated we are prone to wonder from the faith, tempted by the world’s allure, and even more prone to depression.

We were never promised safety in Christ. The opposite is true; we are promised persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). A time is approaching when going to church will be dangerous (and I do not mean because of a virus). Now is the time to prepare and reinforce healthy habits. Instill in your children the need and benefit of attending church weekly. Go and be fed the gospel. Even if your church is not perfect (none are), be present and love others.

On the importance of attending church, it is helpful to look at Mosaic Law. While Christians are no longer slaves to the law. The law reflects the character of God. The law is good, valuable, and worthy of our delight. We can learn much about God’s holiness and desires in the law. Consider the absolute seriousness by which God treats the Sabbath, the day of worship, and rest: Exodus 31:12-17.

God cares deeply about the Sabbath. He cares about how He is worshiped. At one point in time, failure to honor the Sabbath as God intended was a crime punishable by death! Friends, corporate, in-person worship is non-negotiable for Christians. Go to church and do not stop.

If Christians are to spiritually flourish in a nation that hates them, they must dedicate time to understanding the significance of worldview, how it is formed, and how it can rightly engage our culture. The following summary of a Biblical world view is the only one that presents an accurate history of the cosmos:- 1. Creation by God of a perfect cosmos 6000 years ago. 2. Entrance of sin and death by man’s rebellion against God. 3. God’s judgement of the World with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. 4. Confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel that established the nations. 5. God establishes his nation Israel that would birth the Redeemer, Jesus, God’s Son, born of a virgin. 6. Birth of the church at Pentecost. 7. 2000 year history of the church which is soon coming to its prophesied end with Jesus return, first to rescue the Saints at which time His wrath will be poured out on an unbelieving world. Then Jesus returns to earth with the Saints to rescue His nation Israel at the battle of Armageddon. 8.We then have the Millennium. Jesus will rule the nations with the glorified Saints with a rod of iron for 1000 years.

Part an extract from the article in Patheos: Persecution: The New Reality for Biblical Christianity in America by Jack lee

THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST

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The Bible makes it very clear that when Jesus returns with the resurrected saints to defeat the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon, He will set up His Kingdom in a totally reconstructed Jerusalem.

This commences the Millennial reign of Christ on this earth. He will rule and reign with the resurrected saints, and with a rod of iron, for 1000 years. The Adamic curse has not been lifted so people will die, although they will live longer. People will still have to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, just as we do now, in order to receive eternal life. Also, we know that Satan is released at the end of the Millennium and is still able to raise an enormous army to come up against Jesus.

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10

The video below is instructive and inspirational but it has one major error. The new heaven and the new earth which only the saints inherit is created by God after this earth has been consumed by fire and the White Throne Judgement.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

Nevertheless, Ezekiel’s 48 description of the Millennial Kingdom is correct and as I said before is inspirational as well as instructive. Well worth the time and effort.

THE NATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST ARE CENTRE STAGE IN GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN

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Make no mistake during the End-Times, God will focus His attention on bringing to fulfilment the covenants that He made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.

Most of Daniel’s visions focus on the Gentile kingdoms in history, and on their rule over the people and land of Israel. It was revealed to Daniel that the Gentile kingdoms would have dominion over Israel until the time of the end  and the coming of their Messiah. He was given understanding that the nation of Israel, and their Land, is going to be embattled and fought over until the end. There will come a time, however, when that season of the Gentiles’ dominion will come to an end; a time when the Land will be given back to the people of Israel; a time when they are going to be restored to the Land.

The Bible clearly says that His divine activity will be both “great and terrible” as He zealously works to persuade the peoples of the Gentile nations to turn from their evil ways and accept His “redemptive plan” as it will be expressed in history through the manifestation on earth of the everlasting covenants that He made with Israel. At the same time, God will be working dramatically among Jewish people, and for the nation of Israel, to turn whole-heartedly to Him—accepting the Messiah that He has already sent to make a way for their salvation. We are told that by the end of this age, the surviving Jewish people will believe on and receive Jesus as their Messiah and King!

Throughout the New Testament, the prophecies written about the End-Times and the return of Jesus are focused on Israel and other key nations of the Middle East. The Book of Revelation portrays the cities of Babylon and Jerusalem as the two most prominent cities in the End-Times drama.

The nations of the Middle East will be the “stage” upon which God completes His activity of redemption in this age and ushers in the next age, which will be a time of renewal and restoration that will affect the whole world.

Jesus is Returning

In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness. (Isaiah 16:5)

The way to be righteous for those who would partake of God’s Kingdom is “through faith in Jesus Christ.” 

“But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Righteousness is not through our works. It is a gift that we receive and that we live by through faith in Jesus.

“God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (Corinthians 5:21) Awesome! This verse is one of the most “astounding” verses in all of Scripture.

It is important to emphasise here that there is only “one-way” of salvation; only one-way to become a Righteous citizen of God’s Kingdom.

“To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6)

Sadly much of the apostate church believes Jesus is not the only way to God. This is heresy and leads only to destruction.

Also, this issue of “identity” has become a concern for many Jews who are now “Messianic believers;” those who believe in Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah. They struggle with what they should do with the Law—and with the covenant that was made with Moses and with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. They often identify themselves, as Jews, with many of the things that they were taught under the Law, as well as from traditions that have sprung up throughout their history. Paul made it clear that Jews must also submit to God’s perfected way of becoming Righteous, which is only through believing in Jesus, the Messiah:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1-4)

It is important to pray for the Messianic community, so that they may come to accurately understand God’s heart and God’s Word. This difficult situation, most likely, will only increase in the last days, when the Temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem and a revived Levitical priesthood institutes daily sacrifices and offerings again.

Extracts from Tom Craig’s book, Living Fully for the Fulfilment of Isaiah 19: When Egypt, Assyria and Israel Will Become a Blessing in the Midst of the Earth

 

 

DOES YOUR HOPE IN GOD INCLUDE A LAVISH BANQUET?

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“The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on the mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine.” Isaiah 25:6

In Judaism, there would be no Jewish faith without food and wine, as it plays a central role in the weekly and annual biblical celebrations. Food and wine are spiritual elements first rooted deep in the soil of Israel. From the time of Abraham, food and wine have played an integral role in covenants and Temple offerings.

The Bible prophesies about food and wine and it is only a foretaste of what’s to come as shown in this verse from Isaiah.

Image result for picture of vineyards in Israel

Wine is one of the oldest biblical foods, and Israel has been producing it longer than anyone. After the great flood, Noah first planted vineyards, and wine is one of the elements of Shabbat, Passover and Sukkot. Just as wine is a blessing from the Lord, it is also an expression of gratitude and joy. It’s customary for people in Israel to raise a glass and say, “L’Chaim!!” (meaning, “To Life!!”) before drinking wine. Consider that during Passover, wine is the central element of a Jewish family Seder. The four cups enjoyed at the Seder represent the cup of sanctification to set Passover apart as a holy celebration, the cup of plagues to remember God’s judgements, the cup of blessing for Freedom from slavery and the cup of the coming Messianic kingdom. Exodus 6:6-7

“I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, they will make gardens and eat their fruit.” Amos 9:14

Israel, the light to the nations, is the only place on earth where God’s redemptive plan begins and ends through a specific place and a specific people but available to all of mankind. Jesus will return to rule and reign the nations from a restored Jerusalem.

The only thing better than standing united with Israel is standing in Israel—a living, breathing miracle of restoration as promised in the Bible.

Is your future hope as tangible as participating in a lavish banquet with Jesus and to serve Him as He rules and reigns the nations from Jerusalem during the Millennium.

WHY CREATION IN SIX DAYS? DOES IT HAVE SIGNIFICANCE FOR TODAY?

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The immediate significance of a six days creation was as a pattern for man, six days you will work and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. The finger of God wrote this fourth commandment, one of ten, on a stone tablet for Moses. We still have a seven day week but do we uphold God’s Sabbath?

Equally important, and of more significance in our day, is the prophetic significance of the six days of creation. Six thousand years of man’s reign on earth and the seventh, the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

The Bible’s history is clear on a young earth with genealogies in both the OT and NT giving us a six thousand year history. Sadly, the world does not acknowledge that God judged mankind with a worldwide chaotic flood, which reshaped the geography of the entire planet, laying down the fossil layers and creating the fossil fuels. The flood lasted one year and created what the world believes took billions of years.

It is enlightening to see what the early church fathers had to say on the subject.

St Justin Martyr had this to say “But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, [as] the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare. And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem.”

Iraneus was another early Church Father who taught that the Church will face Antichrist during the Great Tribulation and after that Christ will return and usher in his Millennial Kingdom: “But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared, that “many coming from the east and from the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

The Seventh Day: Iraneus mentioned the Seventh Day, but the Church has forgotten this critical teaching, which in and of itself proves the Millennial Kingdom. It is very well explained by the Epistle of Barnabas  cited by Clemens, Alexandrinus, Eusebius, Jerome, and many ancient Fathers (even Origen.)

“And in the beginning of the creation he makes mention of the Sabbath. And God made in six days the works of his hands; and he finished them on the seventh day, and rested the seventh say, and sanctified it.

Consider, my children, what that signifies, he finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this; that in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end.

For with him one day is as a thousand years; as himself testifies, saying, Behold this day shall be as a thousand years. Therefore children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, that all things shall be accomplished.

And what is it that he says, And he rested the seventh day: he means this; that when His Son shall come, and abolish the season of the Wicked One, and judge the ungodly; and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars; and he shall gloriously rest in that seventh day (a thousand years)”. (Barnabas 13:3-6)

This wonderfully explains the understanding of the Great Creation Prophecy explained by Peter and the Writer of Hebrews which has been forgotten by the Church.

The writer of Hebrews clearly explains this teaching within the canon of scripture: “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:  Again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus (or Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb. 4:3-11)

It is incredibly important to understand this passage which clearly speaks of the Millennial Kingdom, a Seventh Day. Notice the Writer of Hebrews says that  Joshua (it is most likely Joshua, his name and Jesus’s are identical in the Greek) did NOT provide us rest upon entering the promised land and that is why a Seventh Day, a seventh 1000 years, is still coming.

Of even greater interest is what follows this statement. It is obvious that the seventh day (the 1000 years) and the rest of God was still remaining when Hebrews was written! We are told we must labour to enter the 1000 year rest. Our discussion of Amillennialism should end right here, but there is more, much more.

Peter speaks of this same 1000 years and calls those who claim there won’t be a PAROUSIA or Rapture are mockers or scoffers: “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming (PAROUSIA or rapture)? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water (the Creation) through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” (2 Pet. 3:3-10)

Peter demonstrates that all the ages of the creation prophecy “days” are 1000 years long.  Peter is clear that the mockers don’t know the date of Jesus’s return because they don’t understand the creation account (in which the seventh day is mentioned) and its prophetic meaning. If they did, they would know that Jesus returns 6000 years after creation; and that a 1000 year day of rest remains after that.

John of course, re-enforces this teaching in the Book of Revelation: “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 about Jesus and because of the word of God.They had not worshipped 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 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 are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:4-6)

John’s testimony is the same as the writer of Hebrews, Peter, and the early Church Fathers. There is a thousand year reign of Jesus in which the resurrected will reign with him.

Summary: So the teaching of the “Seventh Day” is fundamental to our understanding of the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus. The concepts of seven millennia as prophesied by Genesis has been ignored and forgotten by much of the Church, but as we can see, it was an integral understanding of the Apostles and the early Church Fathers and framed their understanding of eschatology.