by voice of judah
The Anchor of Our Hope During the End Times
The Millennial Reign of Messiah begins in the month of Tishrei with the events of the Fall Feasts. Jesus, as Messiah, will reign on earth with the saints and Israel for a literal 1,000 years.
“Blessed and holy are those who have part 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.” Revelation 20:6
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10
When Jesus spoke of the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of Heaven” in the gospels of the New Testament, He was speaking of a kingdom that was initiated spiritually with His first coming, but would not have its literal and physical fulfillment until His second coming. Finally, the invisible kingdom becomes the visible kingdom.
“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Ephesians 1:9-10
Misconceptions about the Millennial Reign
The Church has often focused its attention on the spiritual nature of the second coming and the kingdom. Some have spiritualized it entirely, assuming the “afterlife” to be in heaven without physical manifestation. Others have said that the Millennial Reign is already happening today. However, according to the Bible, the Millennial Reign is a future event that begins after the biblical end times (the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”).
The Jewish community, on the other hand, has focused on the humanity of the Messiah, and the earthly peace he would bring in the literal Restoration of Israel. For thousands of years they have looked forward to this time, referring to it as the Messianic Age.
The reality will be a combination of both perspectives.
In many ways it will be “heaven on earth.” This gives us a new understanding perhaps of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-10 “Our Father in heaven…thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
God’s Justice and Righteousness During the Messianic Age. Jesus, as Messiah and King (son of David), will rule the earth from Jerusalem.
“Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; You will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Psalm 2:8-9
“Of the increase of His government and there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:7
Jesus Himself will teach us the Word.
“All your sons will be taught by the Lord and great will be your children’s peace.” Isaiah 54:13
“He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3
As a result of His perfect leadership there will be peace and no war.
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:5
The Aftermath of the Great Tribulation. As a result from the devastation during the final 3 1/2 years of the age and the destruction caused by the Bowls of Wrath and Messiah’s defeat of the Antichrist (Satan), the earth will be a decimated planet in need of healing.
Seven months of burying the dead will follow the month of Tishrei.
“‘Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months [end of Tishrei] they will begin their search. As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. (Also a town called Hamonah will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.’” Ezekiel 39:14-16
The River of Life will flow out of the Holy of Holies giving life to everything it encounters.
“The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar… He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’ Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh… Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.’” Ezekiel 47:1,6-12
“On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.” Zechariah 14:8
Rebuilding the cities. All nations of the earth will now recognize Israel as the chief of nations and the Jewish people as God’s chosen people. The nations will honor God and the Jewish people by rebuilding the cities and serving Israel.
“Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord…. Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.” Isaiah 60:6, 10
“Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast…” Isaiah 61:5-6
“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will build the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.” Amos 9:14
Three Types of Inhabitants on the Earth During the Messianic Age
Glorified Saints (Non-Jewish [gentile] and Jewish). These were resurrected or raptured at Yom Teruah, in heaven during the Ten Days of Awe, returned with Jesus on Yom Kippur, and are now on the earth in glorified (immortal) bodies.
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21
Natural Jewish survivors. The remnant of Jews will be refined by the Great Tribulation and survive by the grace of God to the end. They will see Jesus (Yeshua), and receive Him as Messiah.
“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.’” Romans 11:26
“In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people; and they will say, the Lord is my God.’” Zechariah 13:8-9
Natural gentile survivors. From the nations there will be those who did not submit to Antichrist, but also were not believers in Yeshua (the intermediates). They, and the Jewish people, will repopulate the planet during the Millennial Reign.
Israel and the Glorified Saints. The glorified saints (Jewish and non-Jewish) and the natural Jewish remnant will serve Yeshua together in governmental and priestly authority over the earth.
“To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations – He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery – just as I have received authority from my Father.” Revelation 2:26-27
“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 20:6
“…although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5-6
Culture and Life in the Millennial Reign. We will observe levitical and davidic worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple will be the center of life, worship, and government for the earth.
“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah 56:6-7
The inhabitants of earth will observe the biblical Feasts of the Lord (Leviticus 23). The Feast of Tabernacles will come to prominence among the feasts because it will be the wedding anniversary of Messiah and Israel and the saints.
“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” Zechariah 14:16-19
Life of “natural” humans will be long and blessed.
“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; My chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.” Isaiah 65:19-22
The land will bear fruit without toil (like the days of Adam before the Fall).
“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy…. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.” Isaiah 35:1-2, 5-7
The Glory of God will Hover Over Jerusalem. It appears this will be very similar to “the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night” of Exodus 40:38 which hovered over the camp of Israel during their forty years in the wilderness.
“And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.” Isaiah 4:3-5
Following the Millennial Reign. Incredibly and unbelievably, it seems that not everyone will recognize the Messiah as God and King during the Millennial Reign. After the thousand years are over, God frees Satan from the Abyss and allows people to choose Satan or God one last time.
“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.” Revelation 20:7-8
The very last battle between God and Satan will occur, once again, around Jerusalem. God will finally destroy all enemies and cast Satan into a lake of fire.
“They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:9-10
The Great White Throne Judgment will follow where all of humanity will be resurrected and come into judgment before God (except those who were resurrected in the first resurrection at the start of the Millennial Reign).
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15
The Ages to Come. After the events concluding the Millennial Reign, God the Father will come to dwell with humanity.
“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.’” Revelation 21:1-3
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