King Over Planet Earth
Labels:
Important messages
"The Lord will be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9)
How long will it be before the Lord returns to earth to set up His kingdom? Could it happen in this 21st Century? I think, it could easily happen in this century. Could it be twenty years from now? It is not out of the question. Ten years? That's also possible. I can tell you that it will not be earlier than 2022. It cannot take place for at least seven years. Now, look back seven years to 2008; seens like yesterday, doesn't it. It's time to start looking forward to the greatest time that this earth has ever experienced. Let's get a perspective by taking a look at Zechariah's millenial prophecy. The coming of the Lord draws near!
Verses 6-15 Steps
towards perfection
The first description that
Zechariah gives after the Battle of Armageddon is somewhat difficult to
understand. Actually, the Scripture, both Old Testament and New, refers several
times to this period, so we will just let the Scriptures speak. Isaiah, among
several prophets, also informs us of this phenomenon: “Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed for the Lord of
hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem” (Is.24:23). Jesus Himself
said, “Immediately after the tribulation
of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light”
(Mt.24:29). Could this be the time of the Judgment of the Nations? The words that
Jesus had to say about that judgment are similar to those of Zechariah: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before
him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from
another…” (Mt. 25:31,32).
“There shall be a unique day”, and I don’t believe that he is describing the entire
Millennium, but only the time between the Tribulation and the Millennium. It is
a mysterious day, over which only the Lord has complete knowledge (v.7). The
daylight hours will extend, as if to complete the necessary work as quickly as
possible, after the Battle of Armageddon.
After this, Zechariah clearly
takes us to the Millennium and shows us living waters (v.8). These are the same
waters that flowed from under the threshold of the temple in Ezekiel. Ezekiel
takes several chapters to describe the new temple (ch. 40-46) and then in
chapter 47, he writes of those waters, with much more detail than Zechariah,
taking twelve verses, while Zechariah only uses one.
Jesus will be king over the
entire earth (v.9) and Jehovah will be one. Jamison, Faucett, Brown comment: “Not that He is not so already, but He shall
then be recognized by all unanimously
as “One.” Now there are “gods many and lords many.” (1 Co.8:5) Then Jehovah
alone shall be worshipped. The manifestation
of the unity of the Godhead shall be simultaneous with that of the unity of the
Church. Believers are one in spirit already, even as God is one (Eph_4:3-6).
But externally there are sad divisions. Not until these disappear, shall God
reveal fully His unity to the world” (Joh_17:21, Joh_17:23). We
will see the perfect fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer, “I in them and you in me,
that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent
me…” His people will be perfectly one and the world will recognize Jesus as
Lord over all the earth and they will bow the knee before Him.
Jerusalem will be the city of
peace, capital of the universal kingdom (v.10). All the hills around Jerusalem
will be turned into a plain and the plain will extend from the old Judean
border on the north to the southern border. Then, Jerusalem will be lifted
aloft over all the terrain, signifying the presence of the Great King in the
city. The expression in 12:6 is repeated, “in
its place”, marking the gates on three sides and the tower on the other
side, and then the interior of the city where are the king’s winepresses. All
is simply to emphasize the fact that Jerusalem will be totally inhabited.
Notice carefully, after all the destruction and war, the Holy City at last will
truly be compatible with its name, the City of Peace (v.11). There will be no
place so secure in all the earth. Surrounding His throne will be the nation of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the rest of the families of the Gentiles in the
whole world will be worshipers; they will come to celebrate in Jerusalem.
In the next verses, we have
to return to the Battle of Armageddon to again prove a principle that we have
already studied in another place. Besides being glorified among His people, the
glory of the Lord is also manifested by His vengeance upon His enemies (v.12).
In that day, it will be fulfilled upon all the confederation of the antichrist
(Is.66:24; Rev.19:17-21). As we sometimes see in the Old Testament, the enemy
begins to fight one against another (v.13), because God sows confusion among
them. It is often His way of defeating them. The enemy enters Jerusalem and all
the citizens of Judah help their city brothers (v.14). They defeat the enemy
and take possession of all the riches of the world. Because this has been the
battle against the whole confederacy of the world, the victory will be universal.
All the beasts utilized in the battle will become ill through a plague or,
should the animals be symbolic, it would mean that all the weaponry would
become dysfunctional. However, I think that the destruction of the Tribulation
easily will leave nothing but animals for warfare.
Verses 16-21 Some
characteristics of the Millennium
What we are seeing in verse
16 is the remnant of the Gentiles after the Judgment of the Nations
(Mt.25:31-46). These are “the sheep” that help the brethren of the Son of Man in
the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon, demonstrating a righteous
heart by their deeds. These are the worshipers of Christ and the feast that
they celebrate is the Feast of Tabernacles. The other feasts, The Passover with
the Unleavened Bread, The Firstfruits, Pentecost, The Day of Atonement, and The
Feast of Trumpets have all reached their fulfillment. So the only feast that
will be celebrated in this time will be the Feast of Tabernacles. It is the
one, in which they bring into remembrance all that they had to endure
throughout their earthly pilgrimage, Jews and Gentiles, and how the Lord of
Hosts worked miraculously for them. It was in the last day of this last feast
of the year that Jesus made His great invitation… “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in
me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water’”… and now all the nations are enjoying it in its fullness
(Jn.7:37-39).
In the Millennium, down
through all its generations, not all will be obedient, but now Christ will
reign in perfect righteousness in favor of the just and against the unjust
(v.17). The latter will go through the Millennium awaiting their evil master to
be set free from his prison, so that they can once again follow him. God will
chastise them with draught. Concerning the Egyptians, who always had the Nile
as a back-up to sustain them through rainless times, a plague will punish them
(v.18). There will be punishment for every offense and no rebel will escape
(v.19).
It seems to me that all
motorized vehicles will be destroyed during the Tribulation and for a thousand
years there will be no reason to be in a hurry. Horses will again provide
transportation, as was true for some 5,900 years upon the earth, before the
evil 20th Century, the age of the Titanic, the automobile and the
airplane, to which millions of lives were sacrificed. It was the century of
“independence from God”, when the spirit of humanism, identical with the
antichrist spirit, came in force. The
god of “progress” and of pragmatism reigned.
However, in the Millennium,
all the horses will be sanctified to the Lord (v.20). As the priests were men consecrated
entirely to God in the Old Testament, now even the animals give Him glory. We
read in Isaiah about friendly serpents, tame lions, and of much more beauty in
nature during the Millennium. The common cooking pot will be as sacred as the
bowls before the altar. Women will cook in their kitchens with pots consecrated
to the Lord of Hosts, who is worthy of all glory and honor. He, who drove from
the temple all the merchants, will assure that no more business will be carried
out in the place of prayer (v.21). Instead of funding the things of God with
money, all the spiritual economy will be realized through the prayer of faith…
a faith placed only in He Who sits upon the throne, reigning over all the
earth. Thy Kingdom come! Yes, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Recommended Books
Post a Comment