Why did God inspire the Bible writers to record prophecies? Could it be because prophecy reveals not only how but why God intervenes in the affairs of man? After all, prophecy discloses many details of God's great design. It explains God's actions in human affairs and how they relate to His revealed plan.
Let's first examine prophetic principles and themes. These fundamentals serve as keys that unlock the enigmas of prophecy. They make it possible for us to understand many aspects of prophecy that otherwise appear isolated and unrelated and how they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
1. The role of the Messiah
God inspired much of prophecy to relate to the first and second appearances of Jesus as the Messiah. Prophecy explains the necessity of both His first and second comings in God's plan for mankind.
The apostles often referred to prophecies Jesus had already fulfilled to prove that He was the Messiah. But they also often spoke of His second coming. It is only natural for us to wonder about the prophecies that concern His second appearing—predictions that could affect our own lives, including perhaps our immediate future.
Therefore, the first important key to an understanding of biblical prophecy is to recognize that almost all prophecy directly relates to the intervention in human affairs of one key player: Jesus the Messiah. (The words Messiah and Christ are from the Hebrew and Greek, respectively. Both mean "Anointed One.")
Though not specifically mentioned in every prophetic passage, the Messiah is the central figure of prophecy. In fact, a major purpose of prophecy is to reveal the mission of the Messiah.
Jesus made this clear to His disciples after His resurrection: "Then He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.' And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44-45).
Without knowledge of Christ's role in these prophecies, His disciples could not understand them. Most prophecies pertaining to the future point directly or indirectly to the mission and work of Jesus the Messiah.
2. Kingdom of God: focus of prophecy
The prophetic focus of Jesus Christ's mission is the Kingdom of God. During His earthly ministry "Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:1, New International Version). After His resurrection He came back to His apostles and "presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).
The Kingdom of God—the focus of Christ's message—is a major focus of prophecy. Almost all biblical prophecy is, in some way, related to the setting up of His rule and authority over human beings in the literal kingdom He will establish on earth.
The prophet Daniel explained that "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; . . . it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44). In a parable Jesus compared Himself with a "nobleman [who] went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return" (Luke 19:12). In a vision, Daniel saw how Jesus will receive that world-ruling Kingdom. "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days . . . Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).
The apostle John tells us that, when the last of seven prophetic trumpets sounds, a triumphant announcement will be heard: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15). Jesus Christ instructed every Christian to pray: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Luke 11:2).
The return of Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom of God will mark the beginning of the end of the many life-threatening problems the biblical prophets described. This exciting message of hope is a dominant theme in the writings of the prophets of God.
3. God's objective: mankind's redemption and salvation
Another purpose of prophecy is to urge repentance and offer everyone forgiveness through Jesus Christ's suffering and death. This focus on bringing all people to repentance permeates the prophecies of the Bible. Jesus Himself said, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47).
Through the prophet Isaiah, God reveals the fundamental problem that needs solving. "These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Isaiah 29:13, NIV). God describes people as having "heart[s] of stone"—an unyielding attitude toward God and His instruction. This hardheartedness leads us to lives of selfishness—of greed, envy and hatred—which bring us ever closer to the brink of destruction.
Bible prophecy, however, reveals how God will ultimately deal with this problem: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Prophecy explains God's plan to bring this change of heart—otherwise known as repentance and conversion—to all people and solve the root problems that threaten to destroy us. So far only a few have repented and allowed their hearts to be converted through the power of God's Spirit. The rest of humanity must yet be brought to repentance and this change of heart.
To better understand prophecy, we must realize that, although God inspired the historically fulfilled and future aspects of prophecy for the benefit of all people, most people's hearts have not changed. Their attitude and actions reflect a hardened "heart of stone" (see Ezekiel 36:26 and Romans 8:7). To understand God's dealings with humanity, we must not overlook this fact.
The Bible likens God's relationship to mankind to that of a father with his children. Children often disobey their fathers, rebelling against them and choosing actions that disappoint and at times even anger them. But that doesn't lessen a father's patience, hope and love for his children. Keeping this perspective in mind helps us understand biblical prophecies of God, as our heavenly Father, relating to and interacting with us as His children.
4. Specific dates rare
Bible prophecy analyzes the past and provides a vision of the future (Isaiah 46:9-10). It often reveals specific events and sequences of events. But rarely does it reveal the exact time when events will occur. It is only natural that we want to know when and how prophecies will come to pass. Christ's disciples were no exception. When He appeared to them after His resurrection, they asked Him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He answered, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority" (Acts 1:6-7, NIV).
The principle reflected here holds true for most prophecies. God seldom reveals the specific times of their fulfillment. People's attempts to identify specific fulfillment dates for undated prophecies tend to reap a harvest of embarrassment. We need to take Jesus at His word. It is not God's purpose that we know the exact time of the fulfillment of most prophecies. He wants us to recognize the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled. Their fulfillment assures us God's promises are accurate and reliable.
Christ's disciples asked on another occasion, ". . . When will these things be?" (Matthew 24:3). They wanted to know how they could recognize when His coming was imminent, when the end of the present world—the age under satanic sway and influence—was near. Jesus gave them no specific date. But, in subsequent verses, He cautioned them not to conclude that such horrendous occurrences as wars, famines, uncontrollable disease epidemics and devastating earthquakes are specific indicators that the end of this age is imminent. ". . . All these things must come to pass," He advised, "but the end is not yet" (verse 6). Such immense disasters would be only "the beginning of sorrows" (verse 8).
When His disciples asked for a sign to show the approximate date of His return, Jesus gave no such sign. Rather, He stressed the need to "take heed"—to be spiritually alert and on guard—that they should not be deceived (verse 4). Although Jesus Christ and the apostles made it plain that Christians can and should watch for indications that His return is near (Luke 21:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6), nowhere does the Bible give a date for Christ's return or related events.
5. Duality in the Bible
Prophetic statements sometimes apply to more than one fulfillment, a principle we could call "duality." A prime example of duality is Christ's first coming to atone for our sins and His second coming to rule as King of Kings.
Also, the Bible speaks of someone's descendants as his "seed." In some passages the word seed implies both an individual (the Messiah) and multiple descendants (people of Israelitish descent).
Such dual themes are common in Scripture. The apostle Paul, for example, wrote about "the first man Adam [becoming] a living being" and "the last Adam [Jesus Christ] [becoming] a life-giving spirit"
God defined spiritual circumcision—a converted heart—as the key to a Christian's relationship with God (Romans 2:27-28). Paul wrote of the spiritually circumcised-the Church, rather than a physical race of people—as being the "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).
Jesus specifically alluded to the dual application of some prophecies in Matthew 17:11-12. Asked about the prophecy of "Elijah," who would precede the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5), Jesus responded: "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already . . ." The disciples understood that the "Elijah" who had come already was John the Baptist (verse 13). But Christ's clear implication is that another "Elijah" will precede His second coming, announcing His return just as John the Baptist preceded Christ's first coming.
Another prophecy with dual application is Jesus' Olivet prophecy (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), so named because He gave it on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem. Many conditions described in this prophecy existed in the days leading up to the Romans' siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But Christ makes it clear that similar conditions would prevail shortly before His return.
In the Olivet prophecy, Jesus spoke of an "abomination of desolation." Daniel's prophecy about the abomination of desolation was fulfilled in 167 B.C. by Antiochus Epiphanes, but Jesus predicted a similar future condition (see "The Coming 'Abomination of Desolation'").
We must carefully examine the context of prophecies to understand their meaning and discern whether the prophecy seems incomplete after its first fulfillment. It is equally important to avoid reading duality into passages that do not support such interpretation. We should take great care to properly discern whether duality is a factor in any particular prophecy.
We should also understand that virtually all interpretations of how prophecies may be fulfilled are speculative to some degree, and often we may recognize a prophecy's fulfillment only after it is well under way or already has taken place.
6. Cause and effect in prophecy
Another fundamental principle applicable to Bible prophecy is the correlation of cause and effect. The principle of cause and effect is often implicit in foretelling events. Human nature is quite predictable, especially to God, who made us and knows how we think. Therefore, God can foretell broad trends—and resulting disasters—based on His understanding of cause and effect. Expressed another way, God allows people to reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7-8) individually and, many times, collectively. He does this for our long-term benefit.
Many of the calamities that come on people are the consequence of their own sins and hostilities toward each other. The prophet Jeremiah well expressed this principle: "Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you" (Jeremiah 2:19). However, God sometimes exercises control over the consequences of human activities and conflicts to accomplish His objectives. At times He dramatically intervenes to alter the course of history. His actions—including personal and collective punishments-are tools He uses to accomplish a greater purpose.
God spoke of the cause-and-effect principle to Moses when He gave ancient Israel His law. He inspired Moses to warn Israel: "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments . . . [lest] when your heart is lifted up . . . you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth' . . . Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God . . . , you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 8:11-20).
Here God told the people of Israel that their future would be determined by their choices. This was prophecy, but it was prophecy predicated on people's decisions. If the Israelites chose to obey God and acknowledge that their blessings came from Him, they would receive His blessings and protection. But, if they forgot God and disobeyed Him, they would suffer the consequences that befall all disobedient people.
Later, in two of the five books of Moses, as revealed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God offered examples of the blessings He bestows on people who choose to obey Him. He also lists the devastating consequences they will incur if they disobey Him.
Take the time to study these two chapters. If you carefully examine them you will greatly increase your understanding of cause and effect in regards to Bible prophecies. These passages illustrate God's blessings for obedience and punishment for disobedience. They establish the basis for most of the later prophetic indictments and punishments that God pronounces on Israel and other peoples.
The underlying principle is simple: God ultimately, if not immediately, reacts to people's behavior. People of all nations determine much of their own future by how they respond to God and His instruction. King David noted this when he wrote, "The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden" (Psalm 9:15, NIV).
Once we comprehend that God's response to people can be based on the principle of cause and effect—blessings for obedience and calamities for disobedience—many of the misconceptions and mysteries about prophecy disappear. Other aspects of prophecy become much easier to comprehend.
7. Prophecy's greater context
Prophecy is not given or fulfilled in a vacuum. Prophecy provides us far more than a simple list of predictions. It analyzes attitudes and behavior—past, present and future—and reveals God's perspective and reactions. We cannot correctly understand Bible prophecy without some knowledge of the background of the period and culture of the prophet who utters any particular prophecy.
The Bible reveals the origin of the human race and its ethnic divisions (Acts 17:24-26; Deuteronomy 32:7-8). It records the rise and fall of empires and reveals reasons for their successes and their downfalls. It explains the origin of sin and its effect on history. These factors are essential background information to coming to an understanding of prophecy. Prophetic books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are filled with history that includes analysis of conditions existing at the time they were written. They contain instruction, correction, warnings and pleas for change. They present options, sometimes vividly explaining potential consequences.
Prophecy cannot be separated from history. It reflects the far-reaching perspective of the Bible. An accurate biblical worldview requires an understanding of God's view of the history of the world and how He influences it. We need to recognize that God intervenes in the affairs of men to fulfill His purpose. But it is just as important that we understand His perspective. This places prophecy in its proper context.
Prophecy out of context is easy to misinterpret. This is why irrational interpretations of prophecy have abounded throughout the centuries.
8. A satanic age
Another key to Bible prophecy is an understanding of the role and effect of Satan the devil. His influence over the world is so pervasive that Paul called him "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4). An understanding of Satan's influence is necessary if we are to understand prophecy. The devil exerts a powerful influence over human affairs.
The Bible contrasts "this age" of Satan's rule with "the age to come" (Matthew 12:32; Ephesians 1:21). Christians must struggle "against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world's darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world" (Ephesians 6:12, New Century Version). The past century alone has witnessed many evil rulers influenced by the prince of darkness. The apostle John tells us that Satan "leads the whole world astray" (Revelation 12:9, NIV) and "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).
Before God created the heavens and earth, He made angels. An angel of high rank chose to become an adversary to God and was therefore renamed Satan, which in Hebrew means "adversary." Revelation 12:4 indicates that Satan (also called a dragon; verse 9) drew a third of the angels into rebellion. The angels who follow him are demons, comprising the "spiritual hosts of wickedness" of which Paul warns us (Ephesians 6:12).
The "age to come" (Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30) will be free of Satan's influence. God let the apostle John see in vision "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan," being seized and bound for 1,000 years "so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended" (Revelation 20:2-3, New Revised Standard Version).
The imprisonment of Satan begins the prophesied age to come, when "the kingdoms of this world . . . [will] become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ" in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 11:15).
With the devil bound, the world will experience peace under Christ's rule. "Of the increase of his government and peace 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 for ever . . ." (Isaiah 9:7, NIV).
9. The destiny of man
God created man to rule over His creation, to supervise everything, including every living creature. "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Genesis 1:27-28).
Eventually God will greatly extend that rule. ". . . ''What are human beings that you [God] are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.' Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them" (Hebrews 2:6-8, NRSV).
Amazing as it may seem, God desires to place everything He has created under our control, in harmony with His will as our Creator. But, in our present human state, that is impossible. Remember, though, that Jesus Christ was also a human being. He was once in the flesh just as we are. Today He shares power over everything in the universe with our heavenly Father (Matthew 28:18). (For more information about the future God has planned for everyone who faithfully serves Him, be sure to request your free copy of What Is Your Destiny?)
The time will come when Christ will share His authority with all who become the immortal children of God. He promises us, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).
Our heavenly Father also tells us, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (Revelation 21:7). This is the destiny God promises to everyone who surrenders his will to Him.
To properly understand prophecy, we should familiarize ourselves with these biblical concepts. Now let's take a look at God's promises and the covenants on which all biblical prophecy is based.
Showing posts with label You Can Understand Bilbe Prophecy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label You Can Understand Bilbe Prophecy. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Jesus Christ's Life and Death in Prophecy
Many are vaguely aware that Jesus Christ's birth, life and death were prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. But few are aware of the sheer number of predictions and the astonishingly precise details foretold up to thousands of years in advance. These predictions are a powerful confirmation of the accuracy of Bible prophecy.
The Jewish New Testament lists 52 prophecies fulfilled in Christ's birth, life and death as stated in 81 passages in the Old Testament (pp. xxv-xxix). In many ways the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ's first and second comings. All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible discusses not only hundreds of specific prophecies, but many events, people, rituals and sacrifices recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures that foreshadowed the life, death, ministry and return of Jesus Christ (Herbert Lockyer, 1973).
What were some of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled? Let's notice a few:
• He would be a descendant of King David (Isaiah 11:1-5; Matthew 1:1, 6).
• He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1).
• One would precede Him who would announce His coming (Isaiah 40:3, 5; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:1-3).
• His own people would reject Him (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11).
• A friend would betray Him (Psalm 41:9; John 13:18-30).
• The price for His betrayal would be 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:15).
• The 30 pieces of silver would buy a potter's field (Zechariah 11:13; Matthew 27:3-10).
• Wicked people would pierce His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Luke 23:33; 24:38-40).
• He would suffer execution but without the breaking of any of His bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:33-36).
• Others would cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18; John 19:23-24).
• He would be buried with the wealthy (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60).
• God would resurrect Him from the grave (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:30-32).
Jesus Himself could not have controlled how these prophecies were fulfilled. No one can control the circumstances of His own birth, who his ancestors are and where he is born. Nor could He control the actions of others in betraying Him, putting Him to death and laying His body in the unused tomb of a wealthy man. Yet the prophets had written these remarkable details in advance up to 1,000 years earlier. King David predicted even details of Christ's death by crucifixion hundreds of years before the practice of crucifixion became common as a method of execution.
The four Gospels abound with accounts of how many Messianic prophecies were fulfilled, but Christ's closest followers didn't recognize their fulfillment at the time. Only in hindsight were they able to recognize many specific prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures and how they had been fulfilled.
Many prophecies regarding Jesus Christ are yet to be fulfilled. The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy lists more than 200 prophecies of the Messiah, most of which are yet to come to pass (Barton Payne, 1996, pp. 665-670). Just as the many precise details of Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection came to pass exactly as foretold, so will the many prophecies that relate to His second coming be fulfilled exactly as spelled out in God's Word.
The Jewish New Testament lists 52 prophecies fulfilled in Christ's birth, life and death as stated in 81 passages in the Old Testament (pp. xxv-xxix). In many ways the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ's first and second comings. All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible discusses not only hundreds of specific prophecies, but many events, people, rituals and sacrifices recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures that foreshadowed the life, death, ministry and return of Jesus Christ (Herbert Lockyer, 1973).
What were some of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled? Let's notice a few:
• He would be a descendant of King David (Isaiah 11:1-5; Matthew 1:1, 6).
• He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1).
• One would precede Him who would announce His coming (Isaiah 40:3, 5; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:1-3).
• His own people would reject Him (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11).
• A friend would betray Him (Psalm 41:9; John 13:18-30).
• The price for His betrayal would be 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:15).
• The 30 pieces of silver would buy a potter's field (Zechariah 11:13; Matthew 27:3-10).
• Wicked people would pierce His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Luke 23:33; 24:38-40).
• He would suffer execution but without the breaking of any of His bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:33-36).
• Others would cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18; John 19:23-24).
• He would be buried with the wealthy (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60).
• God would resurrect Him from the grave (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:30-32).
Jesus Himself could not have controlled how these prophecies were fulfilled. No one can control the circumstances of His own birth, who his ancestors are and where he is born. Nor could He control the actions of others in betraying Him, putting Him to death and laying His body in the unused tomb of a wealthy man. Yet the prophets had written these remarkable details in advance up to 1,000 years earlier. King David predicted even details of Christ's death by crucifixion hundreds of years before the practice of crucifixion became common as a method of execution.
The four Gospels abound with accounts of how many Messianic prophecies were fulfilled, but Christ's closest followers didn't recognize their fulfillment at the time. Only in hindsight were they able to recognize many specific prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures and how they had been fulfilled.
Many prophecies regarding Jesus Christ are yet to be fulfilled. The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy lists more than 200 prophecies of the Messiah, most of which are yet to come to pass (Barton Payne, 1996, pp. 665-670). Just as the many precise details of Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection came to pass exactly as foretold, so will the many prophecies that relate to His second coming be fulfilled exactly as spelled out in God's Word.
Promise and Covenants: A Prophetic Legacy
Prophecy begins with a promise God made in the Garden of Eden. Immediately after "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan" (Revelation 12:9), lured Adam and Eve into committing their first sin, God said to Satan: ". . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15).
Here is one of the first and most far-reaching prophecies: the promise that God will rectify the problem of deception and sin brought on by Satan. He promised that from Eve, the first person to be deceived, would come a "Seed"—a descendant—who would "bruise" (crush) Satan's position of rulership (his "head") over humanity by which he deceives the world.
God revealed that the "seed" of Satan—people under his influence—would be hostile toward the "Seed" God had promised through the woman. Satan would succeed in temporarily disabling (like a severe bruise on the heel) the Seed promised by God.
Thousands of years later the life and work of that promised Seed were indeed interrupted, as God foretold, for three days and three nights by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:40).
On that foundational promise-that God would send a Seed, the Son of Man, as humanity's Redeemer to defeat Satan—stands a series of other promises God gave to His servants down through the ages. Collectively, these promises-each amplifying and expanding the original promise—form the basis of Bible prophecy.
Later God promised Abraham that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). That blessing was to come through Abraham's seed (Genesis 22:18). Centuries after Abraham, the apostle Paul wrote, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). Through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, all nations on earth are to be blessed.
The legacy of two families
Adam, the natural, physical father of the human race, responded to Satan's deceptive influence through Eve and chose to trust his personal judgment rather than follow God's instruction. In contrast to Adam, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (James 2:23; Genesis 15:6). Therefore, God chose Abraham as the human father of another family, a spiritually oriented family of believers, that would accept and obey God's instruction.
That family would be composed first of Abraham's natural descendants through his son Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Later, a more important function of that family would begin through another descendant, Jesus, the promised Messiah (Galatians 3:29; Romans 8:16-18). Through Him, Abraham is "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11).
Finally, God has promised, through the second coming of the Messiah, to give the members of this spiritual family eternal life in His Kingdom.
Dual promises
Along with the promise that a Seed of Abraham would become the Messiah came a promise of greatness for the descendants of Abraham. This promise is to the natural seed of Abraham. In other words, God's promises to Abraham are dual. They contain implications both physical (to the descendants of Abraham) and spiritual (to the followers of Christ). Both are integral to the success of God's master plan for the human race.
God told Abraham, "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession . . ." (Genesis 17:8; compare 12:7; 24:7).
This was only the beginning. Many nations would develop from Abraham's descendants. For that reason God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. "No longer shall your name be called Abram ['exalted father'], but your name shall be Abraham ['father of a multitude']; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you" (Genesis 17:5).
God did increase Abraham's family. However, He waited until Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were so old that they would not normally bear children. Then, miraculously, Isaac was born. Eventually all who will be considered Abraham's descendants must be miraculously "born" (John 3:3) into the Kingdom of God. Isaac was a type of things to come (Romans 9:6-9).
Isaac fathered two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob, the younger one, to receive the physical promises He gave to Abraham. God similarly chooses those whom He will to have the opportunity to be among the spiritual descendants of Abraham to whom He will give the fulfillment of the eternal, spiritual promises (Romans 9:10-11). God places conditions, of course. All must first come to understand "the truth," then repent of their sins (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9).
God changed Jacob's name to Israel. From his 12 sons sprang the 12 tribes of Israel, which God delivered from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses. God gave the Israelites the land of Canaan, just as He had promised Abraham.
Later, in the days of Saul and David, He established the Israelites as a kingdom.
But God did not limit His promise of greatness for the descendants of Abraham to the territory He had allotted to the ancient kingdom of Israel in the land of Canaan. God promised that Abraham would "surely become a great and mighty nation" (Genesis 18:18). Paul tells us that God gave Abraham "the promise that he would be the heir of the world" (Romans 4:13).
God confirmed this ultimate expansion of Abraham's inheritance to Abraham's grandson, Jacob. ". . . The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 28:13-14).
Eventually this continual expansion in all directions would embrace the whole earth. God would graft all peoples as His children into Abraham's family.
Gentiles grafted onto Israel
How does this happen? Through Jesus Christ both physical Israelites and non-Israelites may receive the promises made to Abraham. Paul explains: "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth . . . were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:11-13, NIV).
Anyone who is not a natural-born descendant of Abraham can nevertheless become an heir to the inheritance promised to Abraham's family. Regardless of lineage, all can become part of the spiritual "Israel of God" through Christ (Galatians 6:15-16). To be partakers of those promises, they must be grafted into the family of Israel.
Paul compares this to grafting a wild olive shoot onto a domesticated olive tree. "But if some of the branches [of Israel] were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot [gentiles], were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you" (Romans 11:17-18, NRSV).
Then Paul warns the gentiles whom God grafts onto Israel not to feel superior to Israelites who have not yet accepted Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. "You will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you" (verses 19-21, NRSV).
Israel must be redeemed
Extending the promises from Abraham's physical descendants to spiritual believers began shortly after Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus' own countrymen rejected Him and refused to accept Him as the Messiah (Matthew 21:42-43; Luke 17:25), so the message of Jesus as the Messiah was extended to the gentiles. Soon many gentiles became part of the "Israel of God," the Church (Galatians 6:15-16).
But Abraham's physical descendants are not permanently alienated from God. They are redeemed and reconciled to Him. Paul explains the role they play in God's plan. "They are Israelites," writes Paul, "and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah . . ." (Romans 9:4-5, NRSV).
Paul continues: ". . . Has God rejected his [Israelite] people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew" (Romans 11:1-2, NRSV). Paul then addresses the Israelites' present spiritual blindness: ". . . Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, 'God gave them a sluggish spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day'" (verses 7-8, NRSV).
"So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling [over Christ, their 'stone of stumbling'; 1 Peter 2:7-8] salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous [in the future]. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!" (verses 11-12).
Did you grasp the significance of Paul's words? Most descendants of Israel continue to reject Jesus as the Messiah. But God has not rejected them. They will be included in the redemption process of the Messiah when He returns as King of Kings. Understanding this truth is essential if we are to understand prophecies pertaining to the people of Israel at the end of the present evil age.
Admittance into the eternal inheritance promised to Abraham—-for Israelites and gentiles alike—is possible only through the Messiah. "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).
"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16, NIV).
Birthright and scepter
We have noted a duality in God's promises to Abraham. Although some aspects of the promises relate to an eternal inheritance through the Messiah, others concern a national and material inheritance. The fulfillment of these promises was passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob (whom God renamed Israel; Genesis 32:28).
Shortly before Jacob's death, God inspired him to reveal to his 12 sons the manner in which the physical heritage of Abraham would affect the generations of Israel. "And Jacob called his sons and said, 'Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days'" (Genesis 49:1). Jacob explained what would happen to each of his son's descendants—the 12 tribes of Israel.
Significantly, the core promises God made to Abraham were to pass only to Joseph and Judah. To each came a different promise, a separate heritage.
The Bible summarizes: ". . . Though Judah became prominent among his brothers and a ruler came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph" (1 Chronicles 5:2, NRSV).
Because of that birthright promise, Joseph's descendants would enjoy inconceivable prosperity-possessing the finest material blessings—and achieve great military superiority because the hand of God would be with them. Their territory would increase and expand, like branches growing over a wall (Genesis 49:22-26).
To Judah and his descendants, however, went the promise of a scepter—a staff held by a king as the emblem of his sovereignty. It signified that from Judah would come a dynasty of kings that would culminate in the reign of the Messiah.Jacob explained that "the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet . . ." (Genesis 49:10, New American Standard Bible). The promises to Abraham concerning rulership, salvation and the Messiah would be fulfilled through the Jewish people, the descendants of Judah. Jesus Himself said that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). That is why He had to be born into a Jewish family as a physical descendant of Judah (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38).
Promises to David
Long after Abraham, through King David of the tribe of Judah, the scepter promise finally took on even greater significance. God gave David the kingdom of Israel and promised that from him would spring a dynasty of kings that would continue forever.
God sent the prophet Nathan to David with this message: ". . . Thus says the Lord of hosts . . . I will make for you a great name . . . I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body . . . I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever . . . and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:8-16, NRSV).
Through David God did indeed establish a dynasty of kings. God promised that a greater future King would come from David's descendants. God sent an angel to Mary who told her: ". . . You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33).
The kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule is to last forever. He will establish that kingdom when He returns to earth. Understanding that truth is of primary importance if we are to comprehend the messages of the prophets who followed David.
David's kingdom divided
At David's death his kingdom passed to his son Solomon. God gave Solomon great wisdom and wealth, but in his old age he allowed his many foreign wives and concubines to turn his heart away from God (1 Kings 11:1-8). The kingdom lapsed into worship of false gods.
Shortly after Solomon's death, God divided the kingdom He had given David into two nations. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some of Levi remained loyal to Solomon's son, Rehoboam, preserving David's dynasty. This much smaller kingdom was known as Judah or the house of Judah. It retained Jerusalem as its capital.
Ten tribes—the majority of the kingdom—seceded and retained the name Israel, eventually establishing Samaria, in the territory of Ephraim, as its capital. (Years later this northern Israelite kingdom was conquered and taken into captivity by ancient Assyria. Its people disappeared from recorded history, becoming known as "the lost 10 tribes.")
The division of the kingdom politically and in fact separated the scepter promise from the birthright promise. Judah retained the scepter and the throne of David.
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the direct descendants of Joseph, dominated the northern kingdom and retained the birthright. From this point forward the history and future of these two promises, the birthright and the scepter, must be traced along separate paths until the house of Israel and the house of Judah are once again reunited as one nation under the rule of the Messiah. (To better understand these promises, and the vital role they play in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, be sure to request your free copy of the booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)
A reunited kingdom
The restoration of Israel as one nation under the rule of Christ is a theme that appears in the writings of many of the prophetic Bible books. That reunion will occur shortly after Jesus Christ's return as King of Kings. Notice God confirming, through Ezekiel, that Israel and Judah will be reunited as one people.
". . . Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions.
I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
"My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children's children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever" (Ezekiel 37:21-25, NRSV).
God had promised David that his kingdom would last forever. When the world sees these two divisions reuniting under the rule of Jesus Christ, it will know that the Eternal God keeps His promises.
Speaking of the reunited people of Israel, God continues: "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be aneverlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (verses 26-27, NRSV).
God confirmed many of His promises through special covenants, beginning with Abraham. "On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land . . .'" (Genesis 15:18).
Later the Israelites bound themselves and their descendants to God as His special servants. God told them: ". . . If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people . . ." (Exodus 19:5). They responded, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (verse 8). God's covenant joined Israel to God much as a wife is bound to her husband in marriage (Jeremiah 3:20; 31:32).
The purpose of covenants
Every biblical prophet from the time of Moses forward used this covenant as the standard for evaluating and judging the behavior of God's chosen people. Each judged the Israelites by whether they were faithful to their covenant with God.
God's covenants all have the same purpose. They define the relationship parameters between Him and the recipients of His covenant. They explain what He requires of His people if they are to continue to receive His blessings, or benefits of His promises. They set the obligations His people must meet to continue receiving His favor, or grace.
A covenant is a pact between the people and God. Those who break that covenant lose God's favor—the blessing of His grace. The degree to which God gives His people favor is based on their compliance with His covenants.
The covenant God made with ancient Israel is especially significant in Bible prophecy. It documents, in great detail, the conditions Israel had to meet to stay in God's favor.
Although the Ten Commandments summarized Israel's central obligation to God, the people were obligated to obey all of His instructions. God promised: ". . . If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, . . . the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
In the subsequent 12 verses God listed the marvelous blessings of physical prosperity Israel would receive.
But the agreement did not end there. God also spelled out the consequences that would befall the Israelites if they rejected the conditions of His covenant. "But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you" (Deuteronomy 28:15, NRSV). The remainder of this chapter describes what would happen to them if they ignored or rejected their covenant with God.
Stable foundation for prophecy
God's promises and covenants—especially the promise of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience that are included in His covenant with Israel—provide the foundation for biblical prophecy. Let's look at the specific work and messages of God's prophets, men such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Let's learn why they committed their prophecies to writing. Few people understand the importance of their prophecies to a blinded world.
Here is one of the first and most far-reaching prophecies: the promise that God will rectify the problem of deception and sin brought on by Satan. He promised that from Eve, the first person to be deceived, would come a "Seed"—a descendant—who would "bruise" (crush) Satan's position of rulership (his "head") over humanity by which he deceives the world.
God revealed that the "seed" of Satan—people under his influence—would be hostile toward the "Seed" God had promised through the woman. Satan would succeed in temporarily disabling (like a severe bruise on the heel) the Seed promised by God.
Thousands of years later the life and work of that promised Seed were indeed interrupted, as God foretold, for three days and three nights by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:40).
On that foundational promise-that God would send a Seed, the Son of Man, as humanity's Redeemer to defeat Satan—stands a series of other promises God gave to His servants down through the ages. Collectively, these promises-each amplifying and expanding the original promise—form the basis of Bible prophecy.
Later God promised Abraham that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). That blessing was to come through Abraham's seed (Genesis 22:18). Centuries after Abraham, the apostle Paul wrote, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). Through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, all nations on earth are to be blessed.
The legacy of two families
Adam, the natural, physical father of the human race, responded to Satan's deceptive influence through Eve and chose to trust his personal judgment rather than follow God's instruction. In contrast to Adam, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (James 2:23; Genesis 15:6). Therefore, God chose Abraham as the human father of another family, a spiritually oriented family of believers, that would accept and obey God's instruction.
That family would be composed first of Abraham's natural descendants through his son Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Later, a more important function of that family would begin through another descendant, Jesus, the promised Messiah (Galatians 3:29; Romans 8:16-18). Through Him, Abraham is "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11).
Finally, God has promised, through the second coming of the Messiah, to give the members of this spiritual family eternal life in His Kingdom.
Dual promises
Along with the promise that a Seed of Abraham would become the Messiah came a promise of greatness for the descendants of Abraham. This promise is to the natural seed of Abraham. In other words, God's promises to Abraham are dual. They contain implications both physical (to the descendants of Abraham) and spiritual (to the followers of Christ). Both are integral to the success of God's master plan for the human race.
God told Abraham, "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession . . ." (Genesis 17:8; compare 12:7; 24:7).
This was only the beginning. Many nations would develop from Abraham's descendants. For that reason God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. "No longer shall your name be called Abram ['exalted father'], but your name shall be Abraham ['father of a multitude']; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you" (Genesis 17:5).
God did increase Abraham's family. However, He waited until Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were so old that they would not normally bear children. Then, miraculously, Isaac was born. Eventually all who will be considered Abraham's descendants must be miraculously "born" (John 3:3) into the Kingdom of God. Isaac was a type of things to come (Romans 9:6-9).
Isaac fathered two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob, the younger one, to receive the physical promises He gave to Abraham. God similarly chooses those whom He will to have the opportunity to be among the spiritual descendants of Abraham to whom He will give the fulfillment of the eternal, spiritual promises (Romans 9:10-11). God places conditions, of course. All must first come to understand "the truth," then repent of their sins (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9).
God changed Jacob's name to Israel. From his 12 sons sprang the 12 tribes of Israel, which God delivered from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses. God gave the Israelites the land of Canaan, just as He had promised Abraham.
Later, in the days of Saul and David, He established the Israelites as a kingdom.
But God did not limit His promise of greatness for the descendants of Abraham to the territory He had allotted to the ancient kingdom of Israel in the land of Canaan. God promised that Abraham would "surely become a great and mighty nation" (Genesis 18:18). Paul tells us that God gave Abraham "the promise that he would be the heir of the world" (Romans 4:13).
God confirmed this ultimate expansion of Abraham's inheritance to Abraham's grandson, Jacob. ". . . The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 28:13-14).
Eventually this continual expansion in all directions would embrace the whole earth. God would graft all peoples as His children into Abraham's family.
Gentiles grafted onto Israel
How does this happen? Through Jesus Christ both physical Israelites and non-Israelites may receive the promises made to Abraham. Paul explains: "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth . . . were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:11-13, NIV).
Anyone who is not a natural-born descendant of Abraham can nevertheless become an heir to the inheritance promised to Abraham's family. Regardless of lineage, all can become part of the spiritual "Israel of God" through Christ (Galatians 6:15-16). To be partakers of those promises, they must be grafted into the family of Israel.
Paul compares this to grafting a wild olive shoot onto a domesticated olive tree. "But if some of the branches [of Israel] were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot [gentiles], were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you" (Romans 11:17-18, NRSV).
Then Paul warns the gentiles whom God grafts onto Israel not to feel superior to Israelites who have not yet accepted Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. "You will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you" (verses 19-21, NRSV).
Israel must be redeemed
Extending the promises from Abraham's physical descendants to spiritual believers began shortly after Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus' own countrymen rejected Him and refused to accept Him as the Messiah (Matthew 21:42-43; Luke 17:25), so the message of Jesus as the Messiah was extended to the gentiles. Soon many gentiles became part of the "Israel of God," the Church (Galatians 6:15-16).
But Abraham's physical descendants are not permanently alienated from God. They are redeemed and reconciled to Him. Paul explains the role they play in God's plan. "They are Israelites," writes Paul, "and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah . . ." (Romans 9:4-5, NRSV).
Paul continues: ". . . Has God rejected his [Israelite] people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew" (Romans 11:1-2, NRSV). Paul then addresses the Israelites' present spiritual blindness: ". . . Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, 'God gave them a sluggish spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day'" (verses 7-8, NRSV).
"So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling [over Christ, their 'stone of stumbling'; 1 Peter 2:7-8] salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous [in the future]. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!" (verses 11-12).
Did you grasp the significance of Paul's words? Most descendants of Israel continue to reject Jesus as the Messiah. But God has not rejected them. They will be included in the redemption process of the Messiah when He returns as King of Kings. Understanding this truth is essential if we are to understand prophecies pertaining to the people of Israel at the end of the present evil age.
Admittance into the eternal inheritance promised to Abraham—-for Israelites and gentiles alike—is possible only through the Messiah. "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).
"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16, NIV).
Birthright and scepter
We have noted a duality in God's promises to Abraham. Although some aspects of the promises relate to an eternal inheritance through the Messiah, others concern a national and material inheritance. The fulfillment of these promises was passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob (whom God renamed Israel; Genesis 32:28).
Shortly before Jacob's death, God inspired him to reveal to his 12 sons the manner in which the physical heritage of Abraham would affect the generations of Israel. "And Jacob called his sons and said, 'Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days'" (Genesis 49:1). Jacob explained what would happen to each of his son's descendants—the 12 tribes of Israel.
Significantly, the core promises God made to Abraham were to pass only to Joseph and Judah. To each came a different promise, a separate heritage.
The Bible summarizes: ". . . Though Judah became prominent among his brothers and a ruler came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph" (1 Chronicles 5:2, NRSV).
Because of that birthright promise, Joseph's descendants would enjoy inconceivable prosperity-possessing the finest material blessings—and achieve great military superiority because the hand of God would be with them. Their territory would increase and expand, like branches growing over a wall (Genesis 49:22-26).
To Judah and his descendants, however, went the promise of a scepter—a staff held by a king as the emblem of his sovereignty. It signified that from Judah would come a dynasty of kings that would culminate in the reign of the Messiah.Jacob explained that "the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet . . ." (Genesis 49:10, New American Standard Bible). The promises to Abraham concerning rulership, salvation and the Messiah would be fulfilled through the Jewish people, the descendants of Judah. Jesus Himself said that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). That is why He had to be born into a Jewish family as a physical descendant of Judah (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38).
Promises to David
Long after Abraham, through King David of the tribe of Judah, the scepter promise finally took on even greater significance. God gave David the kingdom of Israel and promised that from him would spring a dynasty of kings that would continue forever.
God sent the prophet Nathan to David with this message: ". . . Thus says the Lord of hosts . . . I will make for you a great name . . . I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body . . . I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever . . . and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:8-16, NRSV).
Through David God did indeed establish a dynasty of kings. God promised that a greater future King would come from David's descendants. God sent an angel to Mary who told her: ". . . You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33).
The kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule is to last forever. He will establish that kingdom when He returns to earth. Understanding that truth is of primary importance if we are to comprehend the messages of the prophets who followed David.
David's kingdom divided
At David's death his kingdom passed to his son Solomon. God gave Solomon great wisdom and wealth, but in his old age he allowed his many foreign wives and concubines to turn his heart away from God (1 Kings 11:1-8). The kingdom lapsed into worship of false gods.
Shortly after Solomon's death, God divided the kingdom He had given David into two nations. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some of Levi remained loyal to Solomon's son, Rehoboam, preserving David's dynasty. This much smaller kingdom was known as Judah or the house of Judah. It retained Jerusalem as its capital.
Ten tribes—the majority of the kingdom—seceded and retained the name Israel, eventually establishing Samaria, in the territory of Ephraim, as its capital. (Years later this northern Israelite kingdom was conquered and taken into captivity by ancient Assyria. Its people disappeared from recorded history, becoming known as "the lost 10 tribes.")
The division of the kingdom politically and in fact separated the scepter promise from the birthright promise. Judah retained the scepter and the throne of David.
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the direct descendants of Joseph, dominated the northern kingdom and retained the birthright. From this point forward the history and future of these two promises, the birthright and the scepter, must be traced along separate paths until the house of Israel and the house of Judah are once again reunited as one nation under the rule of the Messiah. (To better understand these promises, and the vital role they play in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, be sure to request your free copy of the booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)
A reunited kingdom
The restoration of Israel as one nation under the rule of Christ is a theme that appears in the writings of many of the prophetic Bible books. That reunion will occur shortly after Jesus Christ's return as King of Kings. Notice God confirming, through Ezekiel, that Israel and Judah will be reunited as one people.
". . . Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions.
I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
"My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children's children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever" (Ezekiel 37:21-25, NRSV).
God had promised David that his kingdom would last forever. When the world sees these two divisions reuniting under the rule of Jesus Christ, it will know that the Eternal God keeps His promises.
Speaking of the reunited people of Israel, God continues: "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be aneverlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (verses 26-27, NRSV).
God confirmed many of His promises through special covenants, beginning with Abraham. "On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land . . .'" (Genesis 15:18).
Later the Israelites bound themselves and their descendants to God as His special servants. God told them: ". . . If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people . . ." (Exodus 19:5). They responded, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (verse 8). God's covenant joined Israel to God much as a wife is bound to her husband in marriage (Jeremiah 3:20; 31:32).
The purpose of covenants
Every biblical prophet from the time of Moses forward used this covenant as the standard for evaluating and judging the behavior of God's chosen people. Each judged the Israelites by whether they were faithful to their covenant with God.
God's covenants all have the same purpose. They define the relationship parameters between Him and the recipients of His covenant. They explain what He requires of His people if they are to continue to receive His blessings, or benefits of His promises. They set the obligations His people must meet to continue receiving His favor, or grace.
A covenant is a pact between the people and God. Those who break that covenant lose God's favor—the blessing of His grace. The degree to which God gives His people favor is based on their compliance with His covenants.
The covenant God made with ancient Israel is especially significant in Bible prophecy. It documents, in great detail, the conditions Israel had to meet to stay in God's favor.
Although the Ten Commandments summarized Israel's central obligation to God, the people were obligated to obey all of His instructions. God promised: ". . . If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, . . . the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
In the subsequent 12 verses God listed the marvelous blessings of physical prosperity Israel would receive.
But the agreement did not end there. God also spelled out the consequences that would befall the Israelites if they rejected the conditions of His covenant. "But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you" (Deuteronomy 28:15, NRSV). The remainder of this chapter describes what would happen to them if they ignored or rejected their covenant with God.
Stable foundation for prophecy
God's promises and covenants—especially the promise of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience that are included in His covenant with Israel—provide the foundation for biblical prophecy. Let's look at the specific work and messages of God's prophets, men such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Let's learn why they committed their prophecies to writing. Few people understand the importance of their prophecies to a blinded world.
God Confirms His Credibility to the World
What is a prophet? What are his job, function and mission? Peter describes prophets as "holy men of God [who] spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). But is that the whole story?
"The Hebrew word for prophet, nabi, means 'one who announces or brings a message from God.' Our word 'prophet' has essentially the same meaning, one who speaks by divine inspiration as the interpreter or spokesman of God, whether it be a message of duty, a warning or a prediction of future events. The twofold meaning is due to the two senses of the preposition pro (in the Greek from which our word prophet is derived), 'for' and 'before'; so a prophet is one who speaks for God, and one who tells before hand what is to take place" (Peloubet's Bible Dictionary, 1971, "Prophet, Prophecy").
It is important that we understand the role of these prophets. Daniel refers to prophets as "Your [God's] servants . . . who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land" (Daniel 9:6). They were messengers whose role went far beyond predicting. They also gave instruction, pointed to lessons from history, reminded the people of their covenant with God, showed kings and nations their sins and proclaimed God's call to repentance. As God's spokesman, the Bible sometimes referred to a prophet simply as "a man of God" (1 Samuel 2:27).
God usually revealed His will to prophets through visions and dreams. They saw, in clear mental images, what God wanted them to convey to the people; such as, "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:1). They then described, in their own words and style, what they saw or heard (verse 8). Sometimes God told them what to say. Many prophetic passages are introduced with the words, "Thus says the Lord . . ." (Isaiah 44:6; Jeremiah 8:4; Ezekiel 11:5).
Israel's spiritual decline
From shortly after the death of Joshua to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., the spiritual condition of the people of Israel deteriorated. Only during a part of the reigns of a few kings-David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah-were ancient Israel and Judah considered relatively righteous and obedient nations.
Under Solomon's leadership, Israel reached the pinnacle of its expansion, prosperity and fame. However, Solomon's heavy taxation spawned misery and resentment. Meanwhile his pagan wives influenced him to turn away from God to idolatry.
Immediately after the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ignored the advice of his senior advisers to reverse Solomon's excessive taxation, a policy that threatened to divide the kingdom. The northern tribes especially resented such heavy taxation, and under the leadership of Jeroboam 10 tribes revolted and reorganized into a separate kingdom. Almost immediately this new kingdom, the house of Israel, adopted forms of idolatry for its religious ceremonies. Judah, the southern kingdom, retained the right form of worship and at times experienced spiritual reawakenings under righteous kings that included Hezekiah and Josiah. But even Judah generally failed to curtail the spread of idolatry within its borders.
The moral and spiritual climate in both kingdoms degenerated, with first a rapid decline in the house of Israel followed by a prolonged decline in the house of Judah. Rulers and subjects alike began disregarding their covenant with God. God specifically condemned their idolatry and ignoring of the Sabbath day, the time He had sanctified for weekly rest and worship.
Soon the afflictions and punishments for disobedience that God had spelled out in detail in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 began to affect both kingdoms on a grand scale. Through His prophets, God pleaded for repentance for several centuries with both the house of Judah and the house of Israel. For the most part the people ignored and scorned the warnings of the prophets.
At first the prophets used only the spoken word to condemn the two nations' moral and spiritual corruption. They pleaded for repentance. The two prominent prophets during this long period of spiritual and moral decline were Elijah and Elisha. We read about their work near the end of the book of 1 Kings and in the early chapters of 2 Kings. Ultimately the prophets began to proclaim their prophetic warnings not only with spoken appeals but with written prophetic messages.
Written prophecy became necessary
As Israel and Judah further slid into moral and spiritual degeneracy, God would soon dramatically increase His punishment for their sins. He sent His prophets with a new and terrifying warning to announce to both nations: Unless you repent of your collective sins—particularly your covetousness, idolatry and Sabbath-breaking—captivity and exile will soon be your fate. Foreign conquerors will invade your borders, destroy your cities and carry your survivors to faraway lands.
In those days empires often intimidated nearby smaller kingdoms into submission simply by the threat of invasion. The weaker countries usually consented to become vassal states to the powerful rulers, who demanded total allegiance. As long as the vassal states paid the required tax or tribute—and maintained their allegiance to the more powerful empire-they generally were allowed to govern themselves. But any insubordination was quickly crushed, and additional restrictions to their freedom were imposed. If the vassals again tried to shake off the control of the superior power, they were routed by military force and the survivors carried away into exile.
Why was the threat of exile to Israel and Judah so important to God that He wanted it recorded in writing for future generations? Why did He decide that the whole world must know why and how He would disown His chosen people for a time? After all, God had promised this land to the descendants of Abraham forever. How could He take it away from them without destroying His own credibility?
God keeps His promises
God wants the world to know He always keeps His promises. He specifically promised Abraham and David that their descendants, their seed, would inherit and rule over a particular land—the land of Canaan—forever. But through the prophets God then told Israel and Judah that He would drive them out of that promised land. This required an explanation.
How could God expel His people from the Promised Land into captivity and exile and still keep His promises? Would God abandon His promises and covenants? Would David's dynasty cease? God determined to answer these questions in advance. He wanted no scoffer to have legitimate reason to accuse Him of ignoring or abandoning His promises and covenants. He chose to permanently record why He was sending the descendants of Israel—both kingdoms—into exile.
So He sent His prophets not only to warn but to record what He planned so all peoples could read—in advance—His plans to restore Israel as one kingdom. One of the first prophets to write about the impending exile of the northern kingdom of Israel exclaimed: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). God commissioned such prophets not only to warn about impending disasters but to explain that God would later fulfill every promise He had ever made.
With this background, we read that God had the prophets record for all generations what the future would hold. This is surely history written in advance.
The same prophecies that foretold the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah give specific details concerning the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of the throne of David. These prophecies explain that the Messiah—as the Son of David and the Son of God—will restore, at His second coming, the kingdom of Israel as part of His own worldwide Kingdom. Through these prophecies, God provides mankind with proof of the reliability of His promises and covenants. Prophecy establishes God's credibility and faithfulness for all who take the time to study and accept His Word.
Just as God had earlier demonstrated—by Israel's miraculous exodus from Egypt —that His promises of nationhood to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were reliable, so He will demonstrate the complete reliability of His Word by fulfilling everything He has spoken through the mouths and pens of His prophets. Through them He revealed the good and bad aspects of the future of Israel and that these things will demonstrably affect the future of mankind.
Even more important, when everything is said and done God will have demonstrated that He and He alone has the power to control our destiny. He will have proved beyond a shadow of doubt these words: "I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done . . . Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).
God will demonstrate that He is God
Through the prophet Ezekiel God explains the great purpose for the events He has revealed to us:
"'I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.' Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel . . . When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer'" (Ezekiel 39:21-28; compare with Exodus 6:7).
God put these prophecies in writing so all humanity will be able to understand and believe in His great power and truthfulness. All peoples will then have incontrovertible evidence that they can trust Him as the living and faithful God. If God should fail to keep a single promise, His word would always be suspect. Prophecy explains how He will keep His promises-both to punish those who sin and to bless those who yield to His instructions.
God intends to use His prophecies-and their astounding accuracy-to demonstrate to all that He is indeed the God of truth. They will come to realize the reliability of Jesus Christ's plain statement concerning God: "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).
God will confirm His credibility
We must keep in mind the promises made to Abraham and David and the covenant God established with Israel. God binds Himself to be faithful to His word. Therefore He has obliged Himself to restore all the inheritance and all the blessings He took away in the exile of Israel and Judah.
Again, through Ezekiel, God said: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
"They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 37:21-23).
So convincing will be the evidence of the reality of God that real repentance accompanied by a stunning transformation in the way the people of Israel respond to Him will finally come to pass. "'And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,' declares the Lord. 'And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,' says the Lord: 'My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring,' says the Lord, 'from now and forever'" (Isaiah 59:20-21, NASB).
The apostle Paul reaffirmed this concept centuries later: "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob'" (Romans 11:25-26).
No room will be left for doubt of God's existence and reliability. Proof that God is real and His Word is to be trusted will stand overwhelming and irrefutable.
Once the descendants of ancient Israel accept the undeniable evidence that God has inspired and faithfully fulfilled the prophecies written in His Word, Christ will begin to teach the other nations this same truth. God will then have brought all nations—all of humanity—to repentance. The books of prophecy in our Bibles will provide the indisputable evidence that God can accurately predict the end from the beginning.
"The Hebrew word for prophet, nabi, means 'one who announces or brings a message from God.' Our word 'prophet' has essentially the same meaning, one who speaks by divine inspiration as the interpreter or spokesman of God, whether it be a message of duty, a warning or a prediction of future events. The twofold meaning is due to the two senses of the preposition pro (in the Greek from which our word prophet is derived), 'for' and 'before'; so a prophet is one who speaks for God, and one who tells before hand what is to take place" (Peloubet's Bible Dictionary, 1971, "Prophet, Prophecy").
It is important that we understand the role of these prophets. Daniel refers to prophets as "Your [God's] servants . . . who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land" (Daniel 9:6). They were messengers whose role went far beyond predicting. They also gave instruction, pointed to lessons from history, reminded the people of their covenant with God, showed kings and nations their sins and proclaimed God's call to repentance. As God's spokesman, the Bible sometimes referred to a prophet simply as "a man of God" (1 Samuel 2:27).
God usually revealed His will to prophets through visions and dreams. They saw, in clear mental images, what God wanted them to convey to the people; such as, "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:1). They then described, in their own words and style, what they saw or heard (verse 8). Sometimes God told them what to say. Many prophetic passages are introduced with the words, "Thus says the Lord . . ." (Isaiah 44:6; Jeremiah 8:4; Ezekiel 11:5).
Israel's spiritual decline
From shortly after the death of Joshua to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., the spiritual condition of the people of Israel deteriorated. Only during a part of the reigns of a few kings-David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah-were ancient Israel and Judah considered relatively righteous and obedient nations.
Under Solomon's leadership, Israel reached the pinnacle of its expansion, prosperity and fame. However, Solomon's heavy taxation spawned misery and resentment. Meanwhile his pagan wives influenced him to turn away from God to idolatry.
Immediately after the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ignored the advice of his senior advisers to reverse Solomon's excessive taxation, a policy that threatened to divide the kingdom. The northern tribes especially resented such heavy taxation, and under the leadership of Jeroboam 10 tribes revolted and reorganized into a separate kingdom. Almost immediately this new kingdom, the house of Israel, adopted forms of idolatry for its religious ceremonies. Judah, the southern kingdom, retained the right form of worship and at times experienced spiritual reawakenings under righteous kings that included Hezekiah and Josiah. But even Judah generally failed to curtail the spread of idolatry within its borders.
The moral and spiritual climate in both kingdoms degenerated, with first a rapid decline in the house of Israel followed by a prolonged decline in the house of Judah. Rulers and subjects alike began disregarding their covenant with God. God specifically condemned their idolatry and ignoring of the Sabbath day, the time He had sanctified for weekly rest and worship.
Soon the afflictions and punishments for disobedience that God had spelled out in detail in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 began to affect both kingdoms on a grand scale. Through His prophets, God pleaded for repentance for several centuries with both the house of Judah and the house of Israel. For the most part the people ignored and scorned the warnings of the prophets.
At first the prophets used only the spoken word to condemn the two nations' moral and spiritual corruption. They pleaded for repentance. The two prominent prophets during this long period of spiritual and moral decline were Elijah and Elisha. We read about their work near the end of the book of 1 Kings and in the early chapters of 2 Kings. Ultimately the prophets began to proclaim their prophetic warnings not only with spoken appeals but with written prophetic messages.
Written prophecy became necessary
As Israel and Judah further slid into moral and spiritual degeneracy, God would soon dramatically increase His punishment for their sins. He sent His prophets with a new and terrifying warning to announce to both nations: Unless you repent of your collective sins—particularly your covetousness, idolatry and Sabbath-breaking—captivity and exile will soon be your fate. Foreign conquerors will invade your borders, destroy your cities and carry your survivors to faraway lands.
In those days empires often intimidated nearby smaller kingdoms into submission simply by the threat of invasion. The weaker countries usually consented to become vassal states to the powerful rulers, who demanded total allegiance. As long as the vassal states paid the required tax or tribute—and maintained their allegiance to the more powerful empire-they generally were allowed to govern themselves. But any insubordination was quickly crushed, and additional restrictions to their freedom were imposed. If the vassals again tried to shake off the control of the superior power, they were routed by military force and the survivors carried away into exile.
Why was the threat of exile to Israel and Judah so important to God that He wanted it recorded in writing for future generations? Why did He decide that the whole world must know why and how He would disown His chosen people for a time? After all, God had promised this land to the descendants of Abraham forever. How could He take it away from them without destroying His own credibility?
God keeps His promises
God wants the world to know He always keeps His promises. He specifically promised Abraham and David that their descendants, their seed, would inherit and rule over a particular land—the land of Canaan—forever. But through the prophets God then told Israel and Judah that He would drive them out of that promised land. This required an explanation.
How could God expel His people from the Promised Land into captivity and exile and still keep His promises? Would God abandon His promises and covenants? Would David's dynasty cease? God determined to answer these questions in advance. He wanted no scoffer to have legitimate reason to accuse Him of ignoring or abandoning His promises and covenants. He chose to permanently record why He was sending the descendants of Israel—both kingdoms—into exile.
So He sent His prophets not only to warn but to record what He planned so all peoples could read—in advance—His plans to restore Israel as one kingdom. One of the first prophets to write about the impending exile of the northern kingdom of Israel exclaimed: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). God commissioned such prophets not only to warn about impending disasters but to explain that God would later fulfill every promise He had ever made.
With this background, we read that God had the prophets record for all generations what the future would hold. This is surely history written in advance.
The same prophecies that foretold the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah give specific details concerning the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of the throne of David. These prophecies explain that the Messiah—as the Son of David and the Son of God—will restore, at His second coming, the kingdom of Israel as part of His own worldwide Kingdom. Through these prophecies, God provides mankind with proof of the reliability of His promises and covenants. Prophecy establishes God's credibility and faithfulness for all who take the time to study and accept His Word.
Just as God had earlier demonstrated—by Israel's miraculous exodus from Egypt —that His promises of nationhood to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were reliable, so He will demonstrate the complete reliability of His Word by fulfilling everything He has spoken through the mouths and pens of His prophets. Through them He revealed the good and bad aspects of the future of Israel and that these things will demonstrably affect the future of mankind.
Even more important, when everything is said and done God will have demonstrated that He and He alone has the power to control our destiny. He will have proved beyond a shadow of doubt these words: "I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done . . . Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).
God will demonstrate that He is God
Through the prophet Ezekiel God explains the great purpose for the events He has revealed to us:
"'I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.' Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel . . . When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer'" (Ezekiel 39:21-28; compare with Exodus 6:7).
God put these prophecies in writing so all humanity will be able to understand and believe in His great power and truthfulness. All peoples will then have incontrovertible evidence that they can trust Him as the living and faithful God. If God should fail to keep a single promise, His word would always be suspect. Prophecy explains how He will keep His promises-both to punish those who sin and to bless those who yield to His instructions.
God intends to use His prophecies-and their astounding accuracy-to demonstrate to all that He is indeed the God of truth. They will come to realize the reliability of Jesus Christ's plain statement concerning God: "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).
God will confirm His credibility
We must keep in mind the promises made to Abraham and David and the covenant God established with Israel. God binds Himself to be faithful to His word. Therefore He has obliged Himself to restore all the inheritance and all the blessings He took away in the exile of Israel and Judah.
Again, through Ezekiel, God said: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
"They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 37:21-23).
So convincing will be the evidence of the reality of God that real repentance accompanied by a stunning transformation in the way the people of Israel respond to Him will finally come to pass. "'And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,' declares the Lord. 'And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,' says the Lord: 'My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring,' says the Lord, 'from now and forever'" (Isaiah 59:20-21, NASB).
The apostle Paul reaffirmed this concept centuries later: "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob'" (Romans 11:25-26).
No room will be left for doubt of God's existence and reliability. Proof that God is real and His Word is to be trusted will stand overwhelming and irrefutable.
Once the descendants of ancient Israel accept the undeniable evidence that God has inspired and faithfully fulfilled the prophecies written in His Word, Christ will begin to teach the other nations this same truth. God will then have brought all nations—all of humanity—to repentance. The books of prophecy in our Bibles will provide the indisputable evidence that God can accurately predict the end from the beginning.
History Proves the Accuracy of Bible Prophecy
Can you believe Bible prophecy? The history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah is a powerful testimony to the accuracy and precision of Bible prophecy. Consider, for example, God's prophecies of the fate of Israel if the Israelites rebelled against Him.
The story begins with Israel's split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, in 928 B.C., soon after Solomon's death. Jeroboam, king of Israel (928-907), instituted idolatry as part of his kingdom's pattern of worship (1 Kings 12:26-33). This angered God because Solomon's idolatry had earlier caused God to choose Jeroboam to lead the northern kingdom (1 Kings 11:30-33).
God warned Jeroboam's wife of the consequences of his, and the kingdom's, idolatry: "For the Lord will strike Israel . . . He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River [the Euphrates], because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger" (1 Kings 14:15).
God continued, through His prophets, to warn of the punishment sure to come if the Israelites would not turn from their sinful ways. He waited, patiently and mercifully, for a repentance that never came.
One such prophet was Micah (ca. 749-722), author of the biblical book that bears his name. "The word of the Lord that came to Micah . . . which he saw concerning Samaria [Israel's capital] and Jerusalem. Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord God be a witness against you . . . I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations" (Micah 1:1-2, 6).
Finally, after successive invasions, the Assyrian Empire devastated Israel, the northern kingdom, and took most of its population captive (722 B.C.).
"Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria . . . For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God . . . And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them" (2 Kings 17:5-7, 15).
As noted above, God had prophesied almost 200 years earlier that He would "uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River . . ." This and many other details of the prophecies and historical account of the Assyrian invasions and resulting Israelite captivity are verified by Assyrian records and other archaeological discoveries.
Judah fails to learn a lesson
Even after witnessing the downfall of their northern cousins in the kingdom of Israel, citizens of the kingdom of Judah themselves drifted into idolatry and disobedience. God sent prophets to warn them of their fate if they failed to repent.
Through the prophet Jeremiah (ca. 626-587), God delivered a remarkable prophecy of Judah's future:
". . . The Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.'
"'Yet you have not listened to Me . . . Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the Lord, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them . . . And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. "'Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation'" (Jeremiah 25:4-12).
Judah would fall to the Babylonians, God warned, and would go into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. At the end of the 70 years God would, in turn, punish Babylon. In another astonishing prophecy, God revealed through Isaiah the name of the ruler-Cyrus, king of Persia-who would, many years in the future, permit the Jews' return (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).
Jeremiah's prophecy came to pass. After several invasions (in 597 and 587) Judah fell to the Babylonians. "[God] brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion . . . He gave them all into his hand . . . Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah . . ." (2 Chronicles 36:17-21).
God's fulfills His promise of restoration
The 70 years in exile passed. Daniel 5 records that the Babylonian monarch Belshazzar held a great and blasphemous feast at which he and his guests drank wine from gold and silver vessels looted from the Jerusalem temple years before by Nebuchadnezzar. The king watched as a ghostly hand appeared and wrote a mysterious message on the wall. The king "was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way" (verse 6, NIV).
The prophet Daniel revealed that this original handwriting on the wall signified God's judgment that Babylon's dominance had come to an end. He told the king, "'Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians' . . . [and] that very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain . . ." (verses 28, 30, NIV).
A century later the Greek historian Herodotus (484-420) confirmed Daniel's account of the fall of Babylon: "The Persians, drawing off the river [Euphrates] by a canal into the lake, which was till now a marsh, he [Cyrus] made the stream to sink till its former channel could be forded. When this happened, the Persians who were posted with this intent made their way into Babylon by the channel of the Euphrates, which had now sunk to about the height of the middle of a man's thigh . . . The Persians thus entered the city . . . and the inhabitants who lived in the central part of Babylon were unaware of the enemies' presence due to the great size of the city and since they were celebrating a festival. They continued dancing and exchanging gifts until they were suddenly told of their sad fate. In this manner was Babylon conquered" (History, book 1, paragraphs 191-192).
Daniel's prediction, along with the prophecies of other prophets of God about the downfall of Babylon, was suddenly and dramatically fulfilled. Jeremiah's prophecy of a 70-year captivity and Isaiah's prophecy of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar were also fulfilled down to the last detail. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the Jews' return.
Fulfilled prophecy's meaning for us
A series of remarkable prophecies spanning hundreds of years, five kingdoms and many prophets and rulers precisely came to pass. As God had said through Isaiah when He foretold Judah's downfall at the hands of the Babylonians: ". . . I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure' . . . Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).
God alone has the power to prophesy events, then bring them to pass. He will yet bring to pass the many other unfulfilled prophecies recorded in His Word. For additional proof that the Bible is indeed God's inspired Word, be sure to request your free copy of Is the Bible True?.
The story begins with Israel's split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, in 928 B.C., soon after Solomon's death. Jeroboam, king of Israel (928-907), instituted idolatry as part of his kingdom's pattern of worship (1 Kings 12:26-33). This angered God because Solomon's idolatry had earlier caused God to choose Jeroboam to lead the northern kingdom (1 Kings 11:30-33).
God warned Jeroboam's wife of the consequences of his, and the kingdom's, idolatry: "For the Lord will strike Israel . . . He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River [the Euphrates], because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger" (1 Kings 14:15).
God continued, through His prophets, to warn of the punishment sure to come if the Israelites would not turn from their sinful ways. He waited, patiently and mercifully, for a repentance that never came.
One such prophet was Micah (ca. 749-722), author of the biblical book that bears his name. "The word of the Lord that came to Micah . . . which he saw concerning Samaria [Israel's capital] and Jerusalem. Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord God be a witness against you . . . I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations" (Micah 1:1-2, 6).
Finally, after successive invasions, the Assyrian Empire devastated Israel, the northern kingdom, and took most of its population captive (722 B.C.).
"Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria . . . For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God . . . And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them" (2 Kings 17:5-7, 15).
As noted above, God had prophesied almost 200 years earlier that He would "uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River . . ." This and many other details of the prophecies and historical account of the Assyrian invasions and resulting Israelite captivity are verified by Assyrian records and other archaeological discoveries.
Judah fails to learn a lesson
Even after witnessing the downfall of their northern cousins in the kingdom of Israel, citizens of the kingdom of Judah themselves drifted into idolatry and disobedience. God sent prophets to warn them of their fate if they failed to repent.
Through the prophet Jeremiah (ca. 626-587), God delivered a remarkable prophecy of Judah's future:
". . . The Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.'
"'Yet you have not listened to Me . . . Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the Lord, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them . . . And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. "'Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation'" (Jeremiah 25:4-12).
Judah would fall to the Babylonians, God warned, and would go into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. At the end of the 70 years God would, in turn, punish Babylon. In another astonishing prophecy, God revealed through Isaiah the name of the ruler-Cyrus, king of Persia-who would, many years in the future, permit the Jews' return (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).
Jeremiah's prophecy came to pass. After several invasions (in 597 and 587) Judah fell to the Babylonians. "[God] brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion . . . He gave them all into his hand . . . Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah . . ." (2 Chronicles 36:17-21).
God's fulfills His promise of restoration
The 70 years in exile passed. Daniel 5 records that the Babylonian monarch Belshazzar held a great and blasphemous feast at which he and his guests drank wine from gold and silver vessels looted from the Jerusalem temple years before by Nebuchadnezzar. The king watched as a ghostly hand appeared and wrote a mysterious message on the wall. The king "was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way" (verse 6, NIV).
The prophet Daniel revealed that this original handwriting on the wall signified God's judgment that Babylon's dominance had come to an end. He told the king, "'Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians' . . . [and] that very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain . . ." (verses 28, 30, NIV).
A century later the Greek historian Herodotus (484-420) confirmed Daniel's account of the fall of Babylon: "The Persians, drawing off the river [Euphrates] by a canal into the lake, which was till now a marsh, he [Cyrus] made the stream to sink till its former channel could be forded. When this happened, the Persians who were posted with this intent made their way into Babylon by the channel of the Euphrates, which had now sunk to about the height of the middle of a man's thigh . . . The Persians thus entered the city . . . and the inhabitants who lived in the central part of Babylon were unaware of the enemies' presence due to the great size of the city and since they were celebrating a festival. They continued dancing and exchanging gifts until they were suddenly told of their sad fate. In this manner was Babylon conquered" (History, book 1, paragraphs 191-192).
Daniel's prediction, along with the prophecies of other prophets of God about the downfall of Babylon, was suddenly and dramatically fulfilled. Jeremiah's prophecy of a 70-year captivity and Isaiah's prophecy of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar were also fulfilled down to the last detail. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the Jews' return.
Fulfilled prophecy's meaning for us
A series of remarkable prophecies spanning hundreds of years, five kingdoms and many prophets and rulers precisely came to pass. As God had said through Isaiah when He foretold Judah's downfall at the hands of the Babylonians: ". . . I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure' . . . Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).
God alone has the power to prophesy events, then bring them to pass. He will yet bring to pass the many other unfulfilled prophecies recorded in His Word. For additional proof that the Bible is indeed God's inspired Word, be sure to request your free copy of Is the Bible True?.
The International Scope of Prophecy
Skeptics who accuse God of favoring the descendants of Israel to the detriment of other nations are often unaware of the scope of God's master plan. Though the people of Israel play a pivotal role in the fulfillment of the plan, their role is not just for their own benefit.
God promised Abraham, ". . . In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). To fulfill that objective, God also promised Abraham: "I will make you [through the people of Israel] a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you . . ." (Genesis 12:2-3).
When we carefully examine Bible prophecy, we find that God is simply remaining faithful to His promise. Individuals and nations who oppose the way God has chosen to use the people of Israel—because of His promises to Abraham—are doomed to ultimate failure. This is not because Abraham's Israelite descendants are better than other people. It is because such people set themselves against God's will.
God's plan extends to all nations
God is fair. He severely punished ancient Israel and Judah when they rebelled against Him. He blesses anyone who complies with His instructions and punishes those who do not. He ultimately shows no partiality in His treatment of Israelites over non-Israelites (Deuteronomy 10:17-19).
In the text of the Ten Commandments, He explained that His laws apply to all: ". . . I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Exodus 20:5-6).
God judges people by their responses to His instructions. He specifically told the people of ancient Israel to love the stranger (foreigner) because they themselves had once been foreigners in Egypt (Leviticus 19:34). God explained to Abraham that His master plan calls for blessing "all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:3).
That plan involves using Abraham's descendants through Jacob in a prominent and special role. Jesus Christ, of course, is the principal offspring of Abraham in the plan (Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:29); salvation is accessible only through Him (Acts 4:10-12).
But the other physical descendants of Israel play a vital role in God's plan. It is important that we comprehend the international implications of biblical prophecy so Israel's role is not misinterpreted. God is focused not only on Israel. His purpose concerns all nations, all peoples.
Isaiah begins his prophecy with these words, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!" (Isaiah 1:2). He soon adds, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it" (Isaiah 2:2). In the last chapter of the same book, God tells us through Isaiah, "It shall be that I will gather all nations . . . and they shall come and see My glory" (Isaiah 66:18).
Prophecy transcends national borders. Though God focuses more attention on His plan for the descendants of Abraham, He does not forget the rest of mankind (Acts 10:34-35). He will bless all who obey Him and will punish all who stubbornly set their will against Him—Israelites and other nations alike.
God's long-range purpose is to change the behavior of all people. This is because He is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He promised, ". . . My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:7).
Prophecy explains how this will happen.
God loved the world
Even though God chose Israel as "a special treasure . . . above all people" (Exodus 19:5), His purpose goes far beyond the Israelites. Moses explained this when God was establishing Israel as a nation. "See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me . . . Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (Deuteronomy 4:5-6, NIV).
Over the protests of the prophet Jonah, God sent him to prophesy to the gentile city of Nineveh. Its citizens responded to his warning and repented, and God spared them. He has concern for all peoples.
To Israel God gave the crucial responsibility of living God's ways as a model for the benefit of other nations. At that time the Israelites did not have a heart to obey God (Jeremiah 7:23-24). So their success as a role model was short-lived. Over time their conduct degenerated to the same level as that of the other nations around them.
Finally God temporarily withdrew His blessings from the descendants of Abraham, and they were taken into captivity. God then offered Nebuchadnezzar, the gentile king of Babylon, an unusual opportunity to serve Him. Daniel, the prophet who was a key administrator in Nebuchadnezzar's government, recorded that God offered this gentile monarch the opportunity to repent of his sins and apply the laws of God to his kingdom.
The nations and peoples in Nebuchadnezzar's vast empire would have benefited immeasurably had he accepted God's offer. Then this knowledge and understanding of the ways of God could have passed on to future generations.
God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to rule an empire whose culture and influence would far outlast him, extending into the empires and cultures that would succeed Babylon. But, because Nebuchadnezzar wouldn't submit to God, Babylon's influence would be far more evil than good. Scripture shows this evil influence will continue through time even to the second coming of Jesus Christ (Revelation 17:5; 18:2).
The future revealed to a gentile king
To get Nebuchadnezzar's attention, God revealed to him, through a dream, a glimpse of the future. Daniel explained to the king that "there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days" (Daniel 2:28).
Daniel continued: "... The God of heaven has given you a kingdom . . . But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron . . . And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; . . . and it shall stand forever" (verses 37-44).
Because of Israel's sins, God granted gentile rulers dominance in that region until a final kingdom—the Kingdom of God—would reign at Christ's return. God revealed this most basic prophecy—an outline of future dominant powers in that region—to Nebuchadnezzar.
At about the same time, God sent Daniel to tell the monarch: ". . . O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous . . ." (Daniel 4:27). Although he temporarily acknowledged God's greatness, Nebuchadnezzar never really heeded Daniel's admonition.
God humbled the king by giving him over to insanity for seven years. During that time he proved himself incapable of administering the affairs of Babylon. Daniel had warned him: "They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen . . . till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses" (Daniel 4:25). God made sure Nebuchadnezzar was left with no excuse for disobeying Him.
When it was all over, Nebuchadnezzar issued a proclamation: "To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation" (verses 1-3).
The Babylonian king acknowledged God's power and authority over the earth. But we read no indication that he permanently changed his idolatrous ways and began serving only the true God. He came to understand, however, that Daniel's God was greater than all the other gods he worshiped.
A lesson of history
What God has shown, and history has repeatedly demonstrated, is that neither national leaders nor their people are able consistently to obey God on their own. Paul summed it up when he wrote: "What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [gentiles]? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks [gentiles] that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one'" (Romans 3:9-12).
Not until Jesus Christ establishes the Kingdom of God on earth, and God gives His Spirit to "all flesh" (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17, 38), to those who willingly repent, can righteousness become widespread. God revealed this same truth to Nebuchadnezzar: ". . . The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).
This truth is the focus of Bible prophecy. Prophecy shows how the Creator God will intervene in mankind's affairs and establish His Kingdom, which will bring peace, righteousness and salvation to all humanity.
Bible prophecy is international in scope. It is centered on the only Ruler—Jesus Christ, the Son of God—who can establish utopia on earth.
Now let's see how that promised utopia will come about.
God promised Abraham, ". . . In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). To fulfill that objective, God also promised Abraham: "I will make you [through the people of Israel] a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you . . ." (Genesis 12:2-3).
When we carefully examine Bible prophecy, we find that God is simply remaining faithful to His promise. Individuals and nations who oppose the way God has chosen to use the people of Israel—because of His promises to Abraham—are doomed to ultimate failure. This is not because Abraham's Israelite descendants are better than other people. It is because such people set themselves against God's will.
God's plan extends to all nations
God is fair. He severely punished ancient Israel and Judah when they rebelled against Him. He blesses anyone who complies with His instructions and punishes those who do not. He ultimately shows no partiality in His treatment of Israelites over non-Israelites (Deuteronomy 10:17-19).
In the text of the Ten Commandments, He explained that His laws apply to all: ". . . I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Exodus 20:5-6).
God judges people by their responses to His instructions. He specifically told the people of ancient Israel to love the stranger (foreigner) because they themselves had once been foreigners in Egypt (Leviticus 19:34). God explained to Abraham that His master plan calls for blessing "all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:3).
That plan involves using Abraham's descendants through Jacob in a prominent and special role. Jesus Christ, of course, is the principal offspring of Abraham in the plan (Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:29); salvation is accessible only through Him (Acts 4:10-12).
But the other physical descendants of Israel play a vital role in God's plan. It is important that we comprehend the international implications of biblical prophecy so Israel's role is not misinterpreted. God is focused not only on Israel. His purpose concerns all nations, all peoples.
Isaiah begins his prophecy with these words, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!" (Isaiah 1:2). He soon adds, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it" (Isaiah 2:2). In the last chapter of the same book, God tells us through Isaiah, "It shall be that I will gather all nations . . . and they shall come and see My glory" (Isaiah 66:18).
Prophecy transcends national borders. Though God focuses more attention on His plan for the descendants of Abraham, He does not forget the rest of mankind (Acts 10:34-35). He will bless all who obey Him and will punish all who stubbornly set their will against Him—Israelites and other nations alike.
God's long-range purpose is to change the behavior of all people. This is because He is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He promised, ". . . My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:7).
Prophecy explains how this will happen.
God loved the world
Even though God chose Israel as "a special treasure . . . above all people" (Exodus 19:5), His purpose goes far beyond the Israelites. Moses explained this when God was establishing Israel as a nation. "See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me . . . Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (Deuteronomy 4:5-6, NIV).
Over the protests of the prophet Jonah, God sent him to prophesy to the gentile city of Nineveh. Its citizens responded to his warning and repented, and God spared them. He has concern for all peoples.
To Israel God gave the crucial responsibility of living God's ways as a model for the benefit of other nations. At that time the Israelites did not have a heart to obey God (Jeremiah 7:23-24). So their success as a role model was short-lived. Over time their conduct degenerated to the same level as that of the other nations around them.
Finally God temporarily withdrew His blessings from the descendants of Abraham, and they were taken into captivity. God then offered Nebuchadnezzar, the gentile king of Babylon, an unusual opportunity to serve Him. Daniel, the prophet who was a key administrator in Nebuchadnezzar's government, recorded that God offered this gentile monarch the opportunity to repent of his sins and apply the laws of God to his kingdom.
The nations and peoples in Nebuchadnezzar's vast empire would have benefited immeasurably had he accepted God's offer. Then this knowledge and understanding of the ways of God could have passed on to future generations.
God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to rule an empire whose culture and influence would far outlast him, extending into the empires and cultures that would succeed Babylon. But, because Nebuchadnezzar wouldn't submit to God, Babylon's influence would be far more evil than good. Scripture shows this evil influence will continue through time even to the second coming of Jesus Christ (Revelation 17:5; 18:2).
The future revealed to a gentile king
To get Nebuchadnezzar's attention, God revealed to him, through a dream, a glimpse of the future. Daniel explained to the king that "there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days" (Daniel 2:28).
Daniel continued: "... The God of heaven has given you a kingdom . . . But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron . . . And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; . . . and it shall stand forever" (verses 37-44).
Because of Israel's sins, God granted gentile rulers dominance in that region until a final kingdom—the Kingdom of God—would reign at Christ's return. God revealed this most basic prophecy—an outline of future dominant powers in that region—to Nebuchadnezzar.
At about the same time, God sent Daniel to tell the monarch: ". . . O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous . . ." (Daniel 4:27). Although he temporarily acknowledged God's greatness, Nebuchadnezzar never really heeded Daniel's admonition.
God humbled the king by giving him over to insanity for seven years. During that time he proved himself incapable of administering the affairs of Babylon. Daniel had warned him: "They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen . . . till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses" (Daniel 4:25). God made sure Nebuchadnezzar was left with no excuse for disobeying Him.
When it was all over, Nebuchadnezzar issued a proclamation: "To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation" (verses 1-3).
The Babylonian king acknowledged God's power and authority over the earth. But we read no indication that he permanently changed his idolatrous ways and began serving only the true God. He came to understand, however, that Daniel's God was greater than all the other gods he worshiped.
A lesson of history
What God has shown, and history has repeatedly demonstrated, is that neither national leaders nor their people are able consistently to obey God on their own. Paul summed it up when he wrote: "What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [gentiles]? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks [gentiles] that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one'" (Romans 3:9-12).
Not until Jesus Christ establishes the Kingdom of God on earth, and God gives His Spirit to "all flesh" (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17, 38), to those who willingly repent, can righteousness become widespread. God revealed this same truth to Nebuchadnezzar: ". . . The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).
This truth is the focus of Bible prophecy. Prophecy shows how the Creator God will intervene in mankind's affairs and establish His Kingdom, which will bring peace, righteousness and salvation to all humanity.
Bible prophecy is international in scope. It is centered on the only Ruler—Jesus Christ, the Son of God—who can establish utopia on earth.
Now let's see how that promised utopia will come about.
Beyond the Millennium
We have seen that Jesus Christ, assisted by His faithful servants, will transform the world after His return to earth. But, even after this 1,000-year reign of peace and prosperity, much important work lies ahead.
Jesus spoke of a time when the people of all nations would gather before Him. Why? So He can "separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:32).
Notice the nature and result of this separation: "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" (verses 33-34). "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels' . . . These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (verse 41, 46).
How will this happen? Who will be involved in this judgment? Notice how Jesus Christ will perform the process of separating the wicked from the righteous. At the beginning of His reign He begins to judge between the nations, teaching them to turn from evil to righteousness (Isaiah 2:4).
Satan released for a short time
Also, as the millennial reign of Christ begins, Scripture tells us that an angel "seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil, or Satan, and chained him up . . . till the thousand years were ended." However, this is not the end of Satan's role in human affairs, because "after that he must be let loose for a little while" (Revelation 20:2-3, REB).
Notice what happens at the end of the Millennium: "When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose from his prison, and he will come out to seduce the nations in the four quarters of the earth. He will muster them for war, the hosts of Gog and Magog, countless as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of the land and laid siege to the camp of God's people and the city He loves. But fire came down on them from heaven and consumed them. Their seducer, the Devil, was flung into the lake of fire and sulfur . . ." (verses 7-10, REB).
Why would God release Satan to again seduce people after the wonderful 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ? Though no specific explanation is given, a logical reason for this turn of events seems evident.
During the Millennium people will have the choice of only one way of life—the way Christ teaches them. Many generations will grow up without ever being exposed to any other way of life.
From the beginning, however, God has always allowed people to choose between good and evil (Deuteronomy 30:19). It would be a mistake to believe that no one born during the Millennium would ever choose the ways of Satan if the opportunity were available.
We can see from the events described in Revelation 20 that God will make that choice available to many people who will live during that 1,000-year era. It is also reasonable to believe that some of them will respond to Satan's intrigue and choose his selfish, rebellious ways over the cooperative and loving ways of God. Sufficient numbers of people will make this choice to form a sizable army. "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" (Revelation 20:9, NIV).
God has always tested His people to see what is in their hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Hebrews 11:17). We should not assume that those living during the Millennium will be treated differently. This will be a test that at least some of them will have to face. No doubt all who live during that 1,000 years will have the opportunity to see whether they will be faithful to God and His ways. The only example revealed to us, however, is that God will release Satan for a time.
Once this test is over, Satan will never again be allowed to deceive anyone.
The general resurrection of the dead
Now the greatest judgment of all must begin. As we read earlier, at the return of Christ only His faithful saints will be resurrected. Prophecy reveals that "the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:5). Another resurrection will take place after the Millennium!
The enormity of this event is difficult to convey, and its significance is hard to imagine. What is to happen to the unsaved billions of people who have ever lived? What is this time of judgment all about?
Now is the time for all other people—all those who lived from Adam's time up to the generation living into the Millennium at Christ's return—to learn the truth of God and enjoy the same opportunity for salvation given to those who lived during the Millennium. They will all be raised from the dead with a marvelous opportunity to know God for the first time!
First, notice the description and setting of this resurrection: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it . . ." (verse 11).
John, in vision, then witnessed an astounding sight: "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books" (verse 12).
This is the resurrection of the "rest of the dead" mentioned earlier. In his vision John saw them stand before God's throne.
What does this mean? We must let the Bible explain itself. But first we need to understand the implication of certain critical words and expressions.
The word judgment does not have to imply a condemnation to death. It can just as well refer to an acquittal, the determination that a person should not be punished. Judgment is simply a process to decide who deserves a punishment or reward and who does not. The judgment described in Revelation 20 is just that: a separation of the wicked and the righteous. Some will be punished, but many more will have their names entered into the Book of Life.
What are the criteria for this judgment? Two factors are involved. These people are judged "by the things which were written in the books" and "according to their works" (verse 12). The Greek word for "books" is biblion, meaning the books in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. Those in this resurrection are judged by the biblical criteria for righteousness.
Now, what "works" of theirs must be judged? This is important to understand.The reason these people did not appear in the first resurrection is that they were not among the firstfruits who were first called and then judged to be worthy of eternal life in that earlier resurrection. God did not choose to call them to salvation in the previous age of man, when Peter spoke of conversion in terms of "as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39). Contrary to popular belief, today is not the only day of salvation: ". . . Now is . . . a day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2, Young's Literal Translation).
In many cases these people's past works would count against them. But other passages in the Bible explain that they will not be judged on past performance alone. They will be resurrected and given opportunity and time to repent and demonstrate their willingness to obey God. After all, most of these billions of resurrected men, women and children will have never known the true God or heard of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
People from all human eras resurrected together
Notice that Jesus says the people of His generation will rise in this resurrection along with people from other ages and other nations. "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). Jesus stated that "the queen of the South"—better known as the Queen of Sheba, who lived in Solomon's time almost 1,000 years earlier—will be resurrected to life again with those who heard Christ preach in His day!
"And you, Capernaum, . . . if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day . . . It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:23-24). Here Jesus said that those who had lived in Sodom—who were destroyed for their notorious depravity almost 2,000 years earlier—will be more willing to accept and obey Christ "in the day of judgment" than Jesus' own contemporaries.
This will be a truly remarkable time when people of all eras and nations are brought back to life to learn God's truth for the first time. Contrary to the common religious belief that people who have never heard of Christ go to hell or purgatory at death, the Bible reveals that all will have the opportunity to choose whether they will learn God's way, repent and receive God's gift of eternal life.
Details of this great resurrection
What will happen when these people come back to life for this time of judgment? The prophet Ezekiel gives us the answer. In a vision he sees a huge valley full of dried bones, all that remained of many long-dead people (Ezekiel 37:1-2). He is told, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'" (verse 11).
Like most people, they probably believed that when a sinner dies all hope is lost for him. Through Ezekiel's dramatic vision, God corrects that false idea.
Here is what God reveals concerning this great mass of people who died without repentance. "'Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and . . . you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord" (verses 12-14).
The purpose of this resurrection is to make God's Spirit available to these people so they can live, not to condemn or destroy them. Remember that "God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
This resurrection will make God's fervent desire possible. It will open the door so all people who have ever lived can be taught the truth and receive the opportunity to repent so they, too, can be saved.
This means that the judgment of that day will take time, enough time for people to change their lives, sufficient time for them to show clear evidence of repentance and prove themselves faithful to God.
Of course, patience is God's nature. He is also merciful. That is why Peter tells us, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). In His master plan of salvation, God has scheduled a time and opportunity for repentance for everyone.
God's judgment is complete
Any time of judgment involves decisions. At the end of this judgment period God will separate the last of the wicked from the righteous and destroy the wicked forever. "And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:13-15).
Unlike those raised to immortality in the first resurrection (verse 6; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53), the people in this resurrection are composed of physical flesh (Ezekiel 37:4-10). They are mortal, given temporary life with an opportunity to repent and choose God's way of life. They are subject to "the second death," and some will still refuse to repent and submit to God.
Notice who will suffer the second death in the lake of fire. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
This second death will be complete destruction from which no resurrection is possible. As Jesus Himself explained, all who do not repent will perish (Luke 13:2-5). The prophet Malachi explained the finality of this destruction: "'For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the Lord of hosts, 'that will leave them neither root nor branch'" (Malachi 4:1).
Even in this God is merciful. Rather than allowing some to live on in a life of sin and rebellion that will bring only sorrow and anguish to themselves and those around them, God will simply remove any source of potential suffering. Those who willingly refuse to repent and choose eternal life will be utterly destroyed, reduced to nothing but ashes (verse 3). This is a far more merciful and loving fate than that represented by the common misconception of the unrepentant tortured forever in an ever-burning hell. (To better understand this biblical truth, be sure to request the free booklet What Happens After Death?)
A new heaven and a new earth
But John's vision does not end with the lake of fire. "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away" (Revelation 21:1).
The last two chapters of the book of Revelation present the vision the apostle John received of a marvelous renewal of heaven and earth. The earth itself is described as having "no more sea" (same verse), no longer needing the oceans so necessary for the survival of mortal human beings.
Who will inherit this "new heaven and new earth"? John quotes God giving the answer: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (verse 7).
These "children of God, . . . heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17), will become like Jesus Christ is today (1 John 3:1-2) as co-owners of the wonderfully renewed heaven and earth.
As the apostle Paul explained, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18) when we "inherit all things."
This promised inheritance is made possible through Jesus Christ, "for whom are all things and by whom are all things," who plays a central role "in bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).
Paul comments on the nature of the glory we are destined to inherit: "The sun has a splendour of its own, the moon another splendour, and the stars yet another; and one star differs from another in brightness. So it is with the resurrection of the dead: what is sown as a perishable thing is raised imperishable. Sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; sown in weakness, it is raised in power; sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:41-44, REB).
The new heaven and new earth will be populated with the children of God who are miraculously changed into immortal spirit beings (verse 51-54).
The eternal family of God
The next thing John sees in his vision is a city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as a gift from God. The city is described as "a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2), a description that emphasizes the relationship of its inhabitants. It represents the eternal household or community of the children of God. The husband, or bridegroom, is Christ (Matthew 25:1), who is "the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29).
God Himself dwells among them. "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). This community is God's family.
Residents of this city are the true "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). "Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel" (Revelation 21:12).
In other words, they are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11; compare Galatians 3:29). For "by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance . . . He dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:8-10).
The huge dimensions of city indicate the awesome success Jesus Christ will have in bringing the overwhelming majority of people who have ever lived to repentance and salvation. "The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs [1,500 miles, or 2,500 kilometers]. Its length, breadth, and height are equal" (Revelation 21:16).
God reveals here that the number of people who will come to repentance and receive eternal life will be like the sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens: beyond the natural ability of any human being to count them. This is the blessing God promised to Abraham (Genesis 22:17).
The vision the apostle John received of this magnificent city provides us with a graphic picture—a visual illustration—of the family God is creating. God dwells in the midst of this city of His immortal, spirit children.
Another garden of paradise
The biblical account of man begins in the Garden of Eden at the confluence of four rivers. In the midst of that garden God placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:8-15). Satan, the great deceiver, first persuaded Eve to sin, then Adam joined her. As a result of their rebellion against God's instruction, Adam and Eve chose to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil-a deadly mixture that has brought suffering and anguish to mankind ever since (Genesis 3:1-6).
The final chapter in the account of human destiny closes with a description of another garden. It surrounds the throne of God from which a river flows with the "water of life."
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life . . ." (Revelation 22:1-2).
The fruit in this paradise is good. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him" (verse 3).
You can know the future
At the beginning of this booklet we posed a question: Must we remain ignorant of our future? Now we can see that God provides us a clear picture of our destiny. But the decision is ours. We must choose whether we will turn from the ways of Satan and this present evil world (represented in the Garden of Eden by the tree of knowledge of good and evil) to the righteous ways of God (pictured by the tree of life).
Notice Jesus' words in Revelation 22:6-7 as He closes the vision of the new heaven and the new earth: ". . . These words are faithful and true . . . Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Jesus spoke of a time when the people of all nations would gather before Him. Why? So He can "separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:32).
Notice the nature and result of this separation: "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" (verses 33-34). "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels' . . . These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (verse 41, 46).
How will this happen? Who will be involved in this judgment? Notice how Jesus Christ will perform the process of separating the wicked from the righteous. At the beginning of His reign He begins to judge between the nations, teaching them to turn from evil to righteousness (Isaiah 2:4).
Satan released for a short time
Also, as the millennial reign of Christ begins, Scripture tells us that an angel "seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil, or Satan, and chained him up . . . till the thousand years were ended." However, this is not the end of Satan's role in human affairs, because "after that he must be let loose for a little while" (Revelation 20:2-3, REB).
Notice what happens at the end of the Millennium: "When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose from his prison, and he will come out to seduce the nations in the four quarters of the earth. He will muster them for war, the hosts of Gog and Magog, countless as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of the land and laid siege to the camp of God's people and the city He loves. But fire came down on them from heaven and consumed them. Their seducer, the Devil, was flung into the lake of fire and sulfur . . ." (verses 7-10, REB).
Why would God release Satan to again seduce people after the wonderful 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ? Though no specific explanation is given, a logical reason for this turn of events seems evident.
During the Millennium people will have the choice of only one way of life—the way Christ teaches them. Many generations will grow up without ever being exposed to any other way of life.
From the beginning, however, God has always allowed people to choose between good and evil (Deuteronomy 30:19). It would be a mistake to believe that no one born during the Millennium would ever choose the ways of Satan if the opportunity were available.
We can see from the events described in Revelation 20 that God will make that choice available to many people who will live during that 1,000-year era. It is also reasonable to believe that some of them will respond to Satan's intrigue and choose his selfish, rebellious ways over the cooperative and loving ways of God. Sufficient numbers of people will make this choice to form a sizable army. "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" (Revelation 20:9, NIV).
God has always tested His people to see what is in their hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Hebrews 11:17). We should not assume that those living during the Millennium will be treated differently. This will be a test that at least some of them will have to face. No doubt all who live during that 1,000 years will have the opportunity to see whether they will be faithful to God and His ways. The only example revealed to us, however, is that God will release Satan for a time.
Once this test is over, Satan will never again be allowed to deceive anyone.
The general resurrection of the dead
Now the greatest judgment of all must begin. As we read earlier, at the return of Christ only His faithful saints will be resurrected. Prophecy reveals that "the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:5). Another resurrection will take place after the Millennium!
The enormity of this event is difficult to convey, and its significance is hard to imagine. What is to happen to the unsaved billions of people who have ever lived? What is this time of judgment all about?
Now is the time for all other people—all those who lived from Adam's time up to the generation living into the Millennium at Christ's return—to learn the truth of God and enjoy the same opportunity for salvation given to those who lived during the Millennium. They will all be raised from the dead with a marvelous opportunity to know God for the first time!
First, notice the description and setting of this resurrection: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it . . ." (verse 11).
John, in vision, then witnessed an astounding sight: "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books" (verse 12).
This is the resurrection of the "rest of the dead" mentioned earlier. In his vision John saw them stand before God's throne.
What does this mean? We must let the Bible explain itself. But first we need to understand the implication of certain critical words and expressions.
The word judgment does not have to imply a condemnation to death. It can just as well refer to an acquittal, the determination that a person should not be punished. Judgment is simply a process to decide who deserves a punishment or reward and who does not. The judgment described in Revelation 20 is just that: a separation of the wicked and the righteous. Some will be punished, but many more will have their names entered into the Book of Life.
What are the criteria for this judgment? Two factors are involved. These people are judged "by the things which were written in the books" and "according to their works" (verse 12). The Greek word for "books" is biblion, meaning the books in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. Those in this resurrection are judged by the biblical criteria for righteousness.
Now, what "works" of theirs must be judged? This is important to understand.The reason these people did not appear in the first resurrection is that they were not among the firstfruits who were first called and then judged to be worthy of eternal life in that earlier resurrection. God did not choose to call them to salvation in the previous age of man, when Peter spoke of conversion in terms of "as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39). Contrary to popular belief, today is not the only day of salvation: ". . . Now is . . . a day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2, Young's Literal Translation).
In many cases these people's past works would count against them. But other passages in the Bible explain that they will not be judged on past performance alone. They will be resurrected and given opportunity and time to repent and demonstrate their willingness to obey God. After all, most of these billions of resurrected men, women and children will have never known the true God or heard of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
People from all human eras resurrected together
Notice that Jesus says the people of His generation will rise in this resurrection along with people from other ages and other nations. "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). Jesus stated that "the queen of the South"—better known as the Queen of Sheba, who lived in Solomon's time almost 1,000 years earlier—will be resurrected to life again with those who heard Christ preach in His day!
"And you, Capernaum, . . . if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day . . . It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:23-24). Here Jesus said that those who had lived in Sodom—who were destroyed for their notorious depravity almost 2,000 years earlier—will be more willing to accept and obey Christ "in the day of judgment" than Jesus' own contemporaries.
This will be a truly remarkable time when people of all eras and nations are brought back to life to learn God's truth for the first time. Contrary to the common religious belief that people who have never heard of Christ go to hell or purgatory at death, the Bible reveals that all will have the opportunity to choose whether they will learn God's way, repent and receive God's gift of eternal life.
Details of this great resurrection
What will happen when these people come back to life for this time of judgment? The prophet Ezekiel gives us the answer. In a vision he sees a huge valley full of dried bones, all that remained of many long-dead people (Ezekiel 37:1-2). He is told, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'" (verse 11).
Like most people, they probably believed that when a sinner dies all hope is lost for him. Through Ezekiel's dramatic vision, God corrects that false idea.
Here is what God reveals concerning this great mass of people who died without repentance. "'Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and . . . you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord" (verses 12-14).
The purpose of this resurrection is to make God's Spirit available to these people so they can live, not to condemn or destroy them. Remember that "God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
This resurrection will make God's fervent desire possible. It will open the door so all people who have ever lived can be taught the truth and receive the opportunity to repent so they, too, can be saved.
This means that the judgment of that day will take time, enough time for people to change their lives, sufficient time for them to show clear evidence of repentance and prove themselves faithful to God.
Of course, patience is God's nature. He is also merciful. That is why Peter tells us, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). In His master plan of salvation, God has scheduled a time and opportunity for repentance for everyone.
God's judgment is complete
Any time of judgment involves decisions. At the end of this judgment period God will separate the last of the wicked from the righteous and destroy the wicked forever. "And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:13-15).
Unlike those raised to immortality in the first resurrection (verse 6; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53), the people in this resurrection are composed of physical flesh (Ezekiel 37:4-10). They are mortal, given temporary life with an opportunity to repent and choose God's way of life. They are subject to "the second death," and some will still refuse to repent and submit to God.
Notice who will suffer the second death in the lake of fire. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
This second death will be complete destruction from which no resurrection is possible. As Jesus Himself explained, all who do not repent will perish (Luke 13:2-5). The prophet Malachi explained the finality of this destruction: "'For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the Lord of hosts, 'that will leave them neither root nor branch'" (Malachi 4:1).
Even in this God is merciful. Rather than allowing some to live on in a life of sin and rebellion that will bring only sorrow and anguish to themselves and those around them, God will simply remove any source of potential suffering. Those who willingly refuse to repent and choose eternal life will be utterly destroyed, reduced to nothing but ashes (verse 3). This is a far more merciful and loving fate than that represented by the common misconception of the unrepentant tortured forever in an ever-burning hell. (To better understand this biblical truth, be sure to request the free booklet What Happens After Death?)
A new heaven and a new earth
But John's vision does not end with the lake of fire. "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away" (Revelation 21:1).
The last two chapters of the book of Revelation present the vision the apostle John received of a marvelous renewal of heaven and earth. The earth itself is described as having "no more sea" (same verse), no longer needing the oceans so necessary for the survival of mortal human beings.
Who will inherit this "new heaven and new earth"? John quotes God giving the answer: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (verse 7).
These "children of God, . . . heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17), will become like Jesus Christ is today (1 John 3:1-2) as co-owners of the wonderfully renewed heaven and earth.
As the apostle Paul explained, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18) when we "inherit all things."
This promised inheritance is made possible through Jesus Christ, "for whom are all things and by whom are all things," who plays a central role "in bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).
Paul comments on the nature of the glory we are destined to inherit: "The sun has a splendour of its own, the moon another splendour, and the stars yet another; and one star differs from another in brightness. So it is with the resurrection of the dead: what is sown as a perishable thing is raised imperishable. Sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; sown in weakness, it is raised in power; sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:41-44, REB).
The new heaven and new earth will be populated with the children of God who are miraculously changed into immortal spirit beings (verse 51-54).
The eternal family of God
The next thing John sees in his vision is a city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as a gift from God. The city is described as "a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2), a description that emphasizes the relationship of its inhabitants. It represents the eternal household or community of the children of God. The husband, or bridegroom, is Christ (Matthew 25:1), who is "the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29).
God Himself dwells among them. "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). This community is God's family.
Residents of this city are the true "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). "Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel" (Revelation 21:12).
In other words, they are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11; compare Galatians 3:29). For "by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance . . . He dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:8-10).
The huge dimensions of city indicate the awesome success Jesus Christ will have in bringing the overwhelming majority of people who have ever lived to repentance and salvation. "The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs [1,500 miles, or 2,500 kilometers]. Its length, breadth, and height are equal" (Revelation 21:16).
God reveals here that the number of people who will come to repentance and receive eternal life will be like the sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens: beyond the natural ability of any human being to count them. This is the blessing God promised to Abraham (Genesis 22:17).
The vision the apostle John received of this magnificent city provides us with a graphic picture—a visual illustration—of the family God is creating. God dwells in the midst of this city of His immortal, spirit children.
Another garden of paradise
The biblical account of man begins in the Garden of Eden at the confluence of four rivers. In the midst of that garden God placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:8-15). Satan, the great deceiver, first persuaded Eve to sin, then Adam joined her. As a result of their rebellion against God's instruction, Adam and Eve chose to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil-a deadly mixture that has brought suffering and anguish to mankind ever since (Genesis 3:1-6).
The final chapter in the account of human destiny closes with a description of another garden. It surrounds the throne of God from which a river flows with the "water of life."
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life . . ." (Revelation 22:1-2).
The fruit in this paradise is good. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him" (verse 3).
You can know the future
At the beginning of this booklet we posed a question: Must we remain ignorant of our future? Now we can see that God provides us a clear picture of our destiny. But the decision is ours. We must choose whether we will turn from the ways of Satan and this present evil world (represented in the Garden of Eden by the tree of knowledge of good and evil) to the righteous ways of God (pictured by the tree of life).
Notice Jesus' words in Revelation 22:6-7 as He closes the vision of the new heaven and the new earth: ". . . These words are faithful and true . . . Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ
When Jesus Christ returns to earth He will initiate "the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets" (Acts 3:21, NRSV). Those prophets consistently assured ancient Israel and Judah that a righteous King would restore God's Kingdom to earth.
The prophets reveal the exact spot to which the Messiah, God's anointed King, will return: "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:4). Starting with Jerusalem as His capital city, He will expand His reign to the world (verses 9).
Once God's Kingdom is established in Jerusalem among the people of Israel, Christ will ask representatives of all nations to come to Jerusalem to learn about His laws. He will summon them to Jerusalem to attend God's Feast of Tabernacles. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (verse 16).
Not all nations will immediately cooperate. Remember, Satan had organized these same nations to fight Christ at His return. They will not quickly accept Him even after Satan is bound. Therefore Christ will "judge between the nations, and rebuke many people . . ." (Isaiah 2:4). Early in Christ's reign, strong measures still will be necessary to convince most nations that He intends to enforce the laws of God.
How will He make this clear, especially to nations who obstinately refuse to attend the Feast of Tabernacles? His means of communicating His message to them will be straightforward. He will simply demonstrate His control over the natural forces of earth. "And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain" (Zechariah 14:17).
The nations will quickly learn that their existence depends on God's blessing. Good weather and bountiful crops are blessings from God. From this time forward only nations that obey God will reap those blessings. All others will not. Such a system will serve as a convincing argument. In time, all nations will respond.
Let's now examine some of the specifics of Christ's reign as the King of Kings.
Rewarding the saints
Jesus Christ has promised to reward people who through the ages have faithfully served Him (Revelation 11:18; 22:12). Notice their part in His Kingdom: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).
From the beginning of Christ's millennial reign the faithful servants of God—including many who will have suffered severe persecution and martyrdom—will serve as the teachers and administrators of that wonderful world to come. They will assist Christ in teaching the ways of peace and righteousness to the nations. This will fulfill Christ's promise to His Church: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).
The prophet Daniel foretold the same thing: "Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (Daniel 7:27).
Christ does not plan to change the world single-handedly. At His coming His faithful servants will be immediately changed from flesh and blood into immortal spirit beings who can assist Him. Paul explained this.
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).
These transformed beings will sit with Christ on His throne. They will serve with Him as teachers and administrators during His millennial reign. (For more details about the incredible future God has in store for mankind, be sure to request your free copy of the booklets What Is Your Destiny?, What Happens After Death? and The Gospel of the Kingdom. They're free for the asking when you contact any of our offices.)
The restoration of all Israel
Long ago God also promised, "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety" (Jeremiah 23:5-6, NRSV).
The restoration of all of the tribes of Israel as one nation under the reign of the Messiah is foretold over and over again in the writings of the prophets.
"Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again"'" (Ezekiel 37:21-22).
"Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city [Jerusalem] of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence': 'Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever . . .'" (Jeremiah 32:36-39).
Since Christ will establish Jerusalem as His capital, the first people to experience the effects of His rule will be the restored kingdom of Israel. As their King, He will immediately establish a close working relationship with them. "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst . . . Indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore" (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
The people of Israel will play a necessary role in helping other nations implement God's ways. Once God has forgiven their sins, Christ will begin using a humbled and repentant Israel to spread the knowledge of God's law to other nations. The whole world will gradually come under the administration of a unified code of law, the law of God. Jesus Christ will coordinate this as He reigns over the nations from Jerusalem. The world will finally learn to obey God's law.
Israel will help the nations learn God's ways
Concerning the restored nation of Israel during Christ's millennial reign, God says: "Behold . . . I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities . . . Then [Jerusalem] shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it" (Jeremiah 33:6-9).
As the people of Israel learn to follow God's ways, their example will inspire other nations to seek the same way of life and to want to reap the same blessings. "Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you"'" (Zechariah 8:22-23).
Nations will see that keeping God's law works. They will come to Jerusalem to learn how they can apply it in their own lands. "Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2). Eventually "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
The fruit of right knowledge
With Jesus Christ as King, Jerusalem will be the center of learning for the world. God's Word, the Bible, will provide a solid foundation for the development of education and knowledge.
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth . . . It shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 55:11-13).
Prosperity will increase while crime and corruption will cease. "Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver, instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders . . ." (Isaiah 60:17-18).
It takes much more than mere knowledge, however, to produce lasting peace and cooperation. A spiritual change is also necessary. It will be that spiritual change in the people of Israel that will inspire other nations to admire their way of life and want to emulate it.
"O house of Israel, . . . for My holy name's sake . . . I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:22-27).
The spiritual restoration of humanity is the most important transformation that will occur during this millennial period when the world is transformed. The Spirit of God will enable people to willingly and enthusiastically obey Him from the heart. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10).
God's Spirit will phenomenally transform people. Obedience will be widespread; people will exhibit honorable leadership and enjoy a stable society. "I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isaiah 1:26).
The changes will be permanent, lasting throughout subsequent generations. "Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever . . . that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time" (Isaiah 60:21-22).
Each new generation will carry on this tradition of righteousness. "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children" (Isaiah 54:13). People the world over will notice and respect their example. "Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed" (Isaiah 61:9).
Spirituality spreads
As people from other nations see what happens in Jerusalem and its environs, they too will want to serve the living God. "Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants-everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant-even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer . . . For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:6-7).
Finally the barriers between Israel and other nations will fall. This will occur because all will eventually realize "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
Physical blessings
As people the world over begin to obey God, first by getting their spiritual priorities straight, they will begin to experience unprecedented physical prosperity.
"'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it . . . They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them'" (Amos 9:13-14).
Isaiah compares this time to a perpetual feast with the best of everything. "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear" (Isaiah 25:6, NRSV).
Notice this inspiring description of blessings yet to come: "They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord-and their descendants as well. "Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox . . . They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord" (Isaiah 65:21-25, NRSV).
This vision of the millennial reign of Christ is not an illusion but a promise of reality. Jesus Christ will return to earth to spiritually transform its people and establish utopia, a paradise on earth. The combination of removing Satan's influence, giving humanity God's Spirit and teaching the world the laws and ways of God will produce 1,000 years of peace and a society blessed beyond its wildest dreams.
But, incredible as this sounds, prophecy reveals that an even more amazing period awaits mankind.
The prophets reveal the exact spot to which the Messiah, God's anointed King, will return: "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:4). Starting with Jerusalem as His capital city, He will expand His reign to the world (verses 9).
Once God's Kingdom is established in Jerusalem among the people of Israel, Christ will ask representatives of all nations to come to Jerusalem to learn about His laws. He will summon them to Jerusalem to attend God's Feast of Tabernacles. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (verse 16).
Not all nations will immediately cooperate. Remember, Satan had organized these same nations to fight Christ at His return. They will not quickly accept Him even after Satan is bound. Therefore Christ will "judge between the nations, and rebuke many people . . ." (Isaiah 2:4). Early in Christ's reign, strong measures still will be necessary to convince most nations that He intends to enforce the laws of God.
How will He make this clear, especially to nations who obstinately refuse to attend the Feast of Tabernacles? His means of communicating His message to them will be straightforward. He will simply demonstrate His control over the natural forces of earth. "And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain" (Zechariah 14:17).
The nations will quickly learn that their existence depends on God's blessing. Good weather and bountiful crops are blessings from God. From this time forward only nations that obey God will reap those blessings. All others will not. Such a system will serve as a convincing argument. In time, all nations will respond.
Let's now examine some of the specifics of Christ's reign as the King of Kings.
Rewarding the saints
Jesus Christ has promised to reward people who through the ages have faithfully served Him (Revelation 11:18; 22:12). Notice their part in His Kingdom: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).
From the beginning of Christ's millennial reign the faithful servants of God—including many who will have suffered severe persecution and martyrdom—will serve as the teachers and administrators of that wonderful world to come. They will assist Christ in teaching the ways of peace and righteousness to the nations. This will fulfill Christ's promise to His Church: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).
The prophet Daniel foretold the same thing: "Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (Daniel 7:27).
Christ does not plan to change the world single-handedly. At His coming His faithful servants will be immediately changed from flesh and blood into immortal spirit beings who can assist Him. Paul explained this.
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).
These transformed beings will sit with Christ on His throne. They will serve with Him as teachers and administrators during His millennial reign. (For more details about the incredible future God has in store for mankind, be sure to request your free copy of the booklets What Is Your Destiny?, What Happens After Death? and The Gospel of the Kingdom. They're free for the asking when you contact any of our offices.)
The restoration of all Israel
Long ago God also promised, "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety" (Jeremiah 23:5-6, NRSV).
The restoration of all of the tribes of Israel as one nation under the reign of the Messiah is foretold over and over again in the writings of the prophets.
"Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again"'" (Ezekiel 37:21-22).
"Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city [Jerusalem] of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence': 'Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever . . .'" (Jeremiah 32:36-39).
Since Christ will establish Jerusalem as His capital, the first people to experience the effects of His rule will be the restored kingdom of Israel. As their King, He will immediately establish a close working relationship with them. "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst . . . Indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore" (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
The people of Israel will play a necessary role in helping other nations implement God's ways. Once God has forgiven their sins, Christ will begin using a humbled and repentant Israel to spread the knowledge of God's law to other nations. The whole world will gradually come under the administration of a unified code of law, the law of God. Jesus Christ will coordinate this as He reigns over the nations from Jerusalem. The world will finally learn to obey God's law.
Israel will help the nations learn God's ways
Concerning the restored nation of Israel during Christ's millennial reign, God says: "Behold . . . I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities . . . Then [Jerusalem] shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it" (Jeremiah 33:6-9).
As the people of Israel learn to follow God's ways, their example will inspire other nations to seek the same way of life and to want to reap the same blessings. "Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you"'" (Zechariah 8:22-23).
Nations will see that keeping God's law works. They will come to Jerusalem to learn how they can apply it in their own lands. "Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2). Eventually "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
The fruit of right knowledge
With Jesus Christ as King, Jerusalem will be the center of learning for the world. God's Word, the Bible, will provide a solid foundation for the development of education and knowledge.
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth . . . It shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 55:11-13).
Prosperity will increase while crime and corruption will cease. "Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver, instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders . . ." (Isaiah 60:17-18).
It takes much more than mere knowledge, however, to produce lasting peace and cooperation. A spiritual change is also necessary. It will be that spiritual change in the people of Israel that will inspire other nations to admire their way of life and want to emulate it.
"O house of Israel, . . . for My holy name's sake . . . I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:22-27).
The spiritual restoration of humanity is the most important transformation that will occur during this millennial period when the world is transformed. The Spirit of God will enable people to willingly and enthusiastically obey Him from the heart. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10).
God's Spirit will phenomenally transform people. Obedience will be widespread; people will exhibit honorable leadership and enjoy a stable society. "I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isaiah 1:26).
The changes will be permanent, lasting throughout subsequent generations. "Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever . . . that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time" (Isaiah 60:21-22).
Each new generation will carry on this tradition of righteousness. "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children" (Isaiah 54:13). People the world over will notice and respect their example. "Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed" (Isaiah 61:9).
Spirituality spreads
As people from other nations see what happens in Jerusalem and its environs, they too will want to serve the living God. "Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants-everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant-even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer . . . For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:6-7).
Finally the barriers between Israel and other nations will fall. This will occur because all will eventually realize "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
Physical blessings
As people the world over begin to obey God, first by getting their spiritual priorities straight, they will begin to experience unprecedented physical prosperity.
"'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it . . . They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them'" (Amos 9:13-14).
Isaiah compares this time to a perpetual feast with the best of everything. "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear" (Isaiah 25:6, NRSV).
Notice this inspiring description of blessings yet to come: "They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord-and their descendants as well. "Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox . . . They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord" (Isaiah 65:21-25, NRSV).
This vision of the millennial reign of Christ is not an illusion but a promise of reality. Jesus Christ will return to earth to spiritually transform its people and establish utopia, a paradise on earth. The combination of removing Satan's influence, giving humanity God's Spirit and teaching the world the laws and ways of God will produce 1,000 years of peace and a society blessed beyond its wildest dreams.
But, incredible as this sounds, prophecy reveals that an even more amazing period awaits mankind.
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