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Now let’s continue on in Isaiah 43:5. “Fear not: for I am with
thee…” And of course there’s going to be great fear in almost every person
on earth, won’t there? “…I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather
thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep
not back: bring My sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth; even every one that is called by My name: for I have created
him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (vs. 5-7). And so
when God brings Israel out it’s going to be really quite an absolute and
mammoth thing. That’s the very first thing to be done at the beginning of
the Millennium.
“Bring forth the blind people that have eyes…” He’s going to open their
eyes and heal them physically and spiritually. “…And the deaf that have
ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? Let
them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them
hear, and say, It is truth. Ye are My witnesses, saith the
LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen…” Now this overlaps into the sons of
God who are ruling as spirit beings with Christ, and it overlaps into
physical Israel, and physical Israel is also going to be a witness to all of
these nations. This is going to be an awesome thing indeed. “Ye are
My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may
know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was
no God formed, neither shall there be after Me” (vs. 8-10). No more idols,
no more statues, no more false gods, no more false religions. Now there may
be little pockets of it here and there but this is all going to be
eliminated as the Kingdom of God reaches out and after Israel has been
settled and solidified, reaches out into all the world and to bring the
whole world under the control and government of Jesus Christ and under the
reign of those who rule and reign with Christ.
Verse 12, “I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when
there was no strange god
among you: therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am
God.” The very fact that He is taking them out of captivity and bringing them
back shows that He is God.
Now verse 14, “Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;
For your sake I have sent to Babylon…” And this is Babylon the Great now,
the whole world. “…And have brought down all their nobles, and the
Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the LORD, your Holy
One, the creator of Israel, your King” (vs. 14-15). Christ is going to be
King over all the earth. This is going to be a mammoth and tremendous thing
that is going to take place. The conversion and bringing out of captivity of
the children of Israel is going to be a great and marvelous thing.
Let’s come to Ezekiel 39. He’s going to have to fight for Israel. Once
they’re back in the land then we have the problem with Gog and Magog. They
come on down and they fight. And God magnifies Himself and so at that time
all the heathen shall know that God is God. See, whatever time it takes for
the children of Israel to come back into the land, be settled there, be some
years for settling there, becoming prosperous and having peace. And it says
in Ezekiel 38, no walls. So the ones from Gog and Magog are going to come
down because see, they have not yet consented to the government of God, and
the rulership of Christ. So they are going to come down and say, “Aha, we
can take this.” God is just going to just bait them with it. So they’re
going to come down with their armies and they are going to think that, “Yes,
we can win this war.”
Now, let’s come down here to Ezekiel 38:23. “Thus will I magnify Myself,
and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations…”
That’s how God is going to start working with the other nations. He’s going
to take those of Gog and Magog, all the hordes of the east and the north,
and they are going to come and it’s going to be a great slaughter. “…And
they shall know that I am the LORD.”
Now Ezekiel 39:1. “Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and
say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back, and leave but
the sixth part of thee…” Now a sixth part of those that were left over after
all the wars. So their population is going to be brought way down. And they
are going to come up against Israel.
Now here in verse 6. “And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that
dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the
LORD.” Notice everywhere it says “they shall know”. Meaning until that time
into the beginning of the Millennium they didn’t know. A lot of them are
going to think, “Well, you know, this is the alien from outer space. That’s
what the Pope and the Beast told us. These are invaders from outer space and
you need to be careful of them.” So He’s going to make it known.
Verse 7, “So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people
Israel…” So this is also going to have an impact upon Israel, now settled
back on the land. “…And I will not
let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I
am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” It’s going to be quite a thing.
Now we’re going to see this is really going to be something here, isn’t it?
Let me just summarize it here what they are going to do after this battle.
How long is it going to take for them to gather up the weapons? “So that
they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of
the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil
those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a
place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of
the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there
shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The
valley of Hamon-gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying
of them, that they may cleanse the land” (vs. 10-12). So it’s going to be
quite a thing. Another great slaughter. And that’s the last slaughter that’s
going to take place before the Millennium begins coming over all the earth.
Now since we’re here in Ezekiel, let’s come to Ezekiel 47:6 and let’s see
what’s going to happen here. “And He said unto me, Son of man, hast thou
seen this? Then He brought me, and caused me to return to the brink
of the river.” Now this is the water that is coming out of the temple. “Now
when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many
trees on the one side and on the other.” Now this is what’s going to go
forth and heal the whole earth. “Then said He unto me, These waters issue
out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the
sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be
healed. And it shall come to pass, that
every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come,
shall live…” (Ezek. 47:6-9). So this is going to be like a great healing
that’s just going to go through the whole earth.
Now notice what this is going to be. This is not only just a physical
healing but it’s also a spiritual healing. Let’s come back to Isaiah 11 and
let’s see how this water is going to be. Because it’s going to go out and in
the final analysis of this with Ezekiel, he got out there and it was so
deep, the only thing that he could do was swim. Well, let’s come over here
to Isaiah 11:9 and let’s see what it’s going to be. “They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” And so it’s just going
to fill and just be like that in the whole world to bring the whole world
under the control and under the knowledge of God. Quite a thing to take
place.
Now we also have a picture of this in the book of Revelation. Very last
chapter in the book of Revelation. It’s like the rivers of the water that
come out of the throne of God to heal the whole earth, to bring life to
wherever it goes. We have the same thing. We have another picture of it. Now
granted this goes on beyond the Millennium and on into the fulfillment of
the Last Great Day, but nevertheless this shows exactly the process that is
going to happen.
Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst
of the street of it [that is New Jerusalem], and on either side of the
river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no
more curse…” (Rev 22:1-3). So when it comes to that point then the
Millennium will be fully functioning going around all the world. All nations
will learn. All nations will worship God. There will be mass conversions.
There will be a straightening out of everything that has gone wrong. There
will be the love of God, the love of people. There will be peace, there will
be security, there will be happiness. There will be right government through
the sons and daughters of God ruling and reigning with Christ. There will be
right education. The word of God will be taught. There will be right
education on how people can live, how they can use the resources that God
has created. They will learn the right things. The families will be brought
together, they will stay together. There will be no divorce. There will be
no crime. None of those things will take place. So this is going to be quite
a thing for the healing of the nations for this to take place.
Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 41 and let’s also see how the Millennium
is going to progress. Let’s begin in verse 17. “When the poor and
needy seek water, and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them…”
Now this is hungering and thirsting after the word of God. This is what it’s
going to be like all during the Millennium. People are going to want to know
about the word of God. “…I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will
open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I
will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle,
and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the
pine, and the box tree together: that they may see, and know, and consider,
and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the
Holy One of Israel hath created it” (Isa. 41:17-20). That’s going to be
quite a time. You talk about repairing the whole earth. Bringing it to the
place that it needs to be, where there’s peace and happiness and security.
There’s going to be a change in the nature of animals, as we know. Let’s
just look at that in Isaiah 11 here, because we can’t talk about the
Millennium without that, because what a change that is going to be. I tell
you what, we can all say, “Thank God, praise God, Halleluia,” if we could
say it that way. No more plastic toys. No more soldiers. No more guns. No
more things like that for children. They’re going to have real live pets to
work with. Now let’s pick it up here, Isaiah 11:6. “The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid…” Now, I
tell you what, when children have pets that are alive and they have to take
care of them. Now they learn a lot of things, don’t they, that you can’t
learn with a toy, see. You can take a toy and you can smash it with a hammer
and it has no reaction. Now you try that with an animal and it’s going to
have a reaction. So they’re going to have to learn how to take care of the
animals. And they’re going to have to understand what it’s going to be like.
“…And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…” They are all
going to be together. Now notice, “…and a little child shall lead them. And
the cow and the bear shall feed...” Now, bears eat grass right now, but the
cow and the bear don’t eat together. There they will eat together. “…Their
young ones shall lie down together…” Unheard of. Would it happen in this
world? “…And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” Now that’s going to be
something to see. I don’t know if God’s going to have to recreate the teeth
of lions so they can do it, because the fangs that they have now are for
tearing meat. You don’t need those kind of teeth for chewing grass. But
nevertheless it’s going to happen. “And the sucking child shall play on the
hole of the asp…” Which is an unthinkable thing today, that would never
happen today. “…And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’
den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain…” (Isa.
11:6-9). So that’s going to be quite a thing.
The whole nature of everything is going to be changed. There will never
again be societies like we have today because Christ is going to rule and we
are going to help Him. And the people are going to be blessed. And the
people will fulfill the purposes for their lives, and they will know God,
and they will love God, and they will love each other. And we won’t have the
family fights and quarrels and hatreds that we have now. What a tremendous
blessing that is. Just think of all the bureaucracies that are going to be
gotten rid of. Police department, justice department, family planning
department. All abortion clinics are gone. Public schools will be Godly
schools. All communities will have churches virtually on every corner. No
one is going to have to travel to go to Sabbath services. They can walk.
That will be where the school will be. And that will be where we will be to
help them, to teach them, to train them. This is going to be a fantastic
thing, brethren that’s going to take place. But you see the earth has to be
all brought back. Now the people are going to work. The people are going to
produce. They are going to build. They are going to straighten out the mess
that was caused because of their sin.
Now let’s come here to Isaiah 52:7. “How beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace…” Now that
will be us when we’re out there doing that. “…That bringeth good tidings of
good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth! Thy
watchmen shall lift up the voice; and the voice together shall they sing:
for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Break
forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD
hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made
bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isa. 52:7-10). And so it’s going
to be quite a thing when that takes place.
Now let’s come here to Isaiah 61 and let’s see how they’re going to work.
What they’re going to do, and how salvation is going to be brought, and what
is going to be accomplished.
It’s going to be a great thing, brethren. Here, verse 1. “The Spirit of the
Lord GOD is upon me…” Now remember when Jesus started His ministry in
Galilee and went to Nazareth into the synagogue, where it was His custom to
go, that was on the Feast of Pentecost and He read these very words. And as
a matter of fact in the schedule of the reading of scriptures in the
synagogues on Pentecost, Isaiah 61 is read.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD
is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives [and there are going to be a lot of captives we’re
going to be letting out of prison], and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day
of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them
that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might
be called trees of righteousness [instead of those who sinned and rebelled
against God], the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified” (Isa.
61:1-3).
Notice what they are going to do. “And they shall build the old wastes,
they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste
cities, the desolations of many generations” (vs. 4). And one thing for
sure, every idol will be destroyed. Every symbol of anything to do with any
secret societies will be destroyed. All of that knowledge will be
obliterated from the face of the earth. And they’re going to build right
cities, and good cities. And God is the One Who is going to give us the
designs on how we can show them how to build their cities.
“And the strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the
alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be
named the Priests of the LORD…” (vs. 5-6). Now that’s referring to us. Now
here mixed in with this is with those of us who will be supervising and
causing this to be done, as well as the children of Israel and the
inhabitants of the earth who will be doing the actual labor, who will be
cleaning the bricks up, who will be gathering the metal, who will be melting
it down and redoing it and so we can have things to work with.
Now let’s see what’s going to happen here. Let’s pick it up here in Isaiah
60:15. “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went
through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many
generations.” All down during the Millennium it’s going to be a joy unto
many generations. “Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt
suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy
Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring
gold…” (Isa. 60:15-17). You talk about economic prosperity. And you see
today, we live in a fools world, economically. Because it’s all based upon
trust. There is no substance to it at all. Here it’s going to be based on
real wealth. It’s not going to be a credit card society. It is going to be a
society with actual gold and silver and precious stones. And notice how
plentiful it’s going to be.
“For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for
wood brass, and for stones iron…” Now just imagine. Everyone is going to
have an occupation. Everyone is going to be able to build and help put
things together. Just think of the beautiful cities that are going to be
constructed with the blessing of God, with the blessing of us working with
those people so that they can do it. No more idols, no more sin, no more
gargoyles on the buildings, no more glorifying of the statues of women and
things like this. No more of the Greek nakedness and statues and idols. All
gone. But pure beauty, pure righteousness, pure buildings that are
magnificent and wonderful. And they will have gold and silver and precious
stones, and all of those things. So it’s going to be a wonderous thing that
we’re going to be doing in helping them do. Ok, now notice, “…I will also
make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness” (vs. 17). So
they’re going to be paying. There will be the tithes and offerings that they
will be giving. And let’s also understand this: No more IRS. No more taxes
in the way that we have them today. No more sales tax. No more income tax.
Yes, we will have the tithes of God. Yes, we will have the offerings of God,
but it’s not going to be like it is today in the 50, 60, and 70% bracket. It
will be something.
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land…” No more. We’re not going to
have it like we saw this last summer where a mother took her five children
and deliberately in cold blood drowned them one at a time in the bathtub. No
more robbery, no more muggings, no more looting, no more stabbings, no more
shootings. Imagine that? No more thievery, cause if someone goes out and he
says, “Well, I’m going to begin stealing.” He’ll hear a voice, “Ah, ah, ah.
That’s not the way.” And there is going to be, you know, today they make a
big deal out of conflict resolution, don’t they? You can trust God. There is
going to be peace and harmony and love, and conflict resolution will be just
as easy as can be. They’re going to obey mother and father. They’re going to
obey God. They’re going to be obeying us. They will be worshipping God the
Father and Jesus Christ. There will be righteousness and judgment. There
will be equity in all of those things in the land, you see. It’s going to be
something. “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor
destruction [never have to worry about the roar of tanks coming up the
street] within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise”(vs. 18). So that’s quite a thing that’s going to take place.
Now, let’s come back over here to chapter 61. Now notice what’s going to
happen, verse 7. “For your shame [that Israel went through] ye shall have
double; and for
[your] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land
they shall possess the double...” Now I cannot comprehend that kind of
wealth and prosperity, but you see you can only truly handle wealth and
prosperity on this scale if there is truth and righteousness. Otherwise
there will be power plays and corruption, and robbery and thievery and all
of that sort of thing. And you would have those, like we have today, it
won’t be then but today we have those, they see the money and the power and
they just reach out and they just begin bringing it in all to themselves.
Witness the banks. Witness those who control the big corporations today. No
more will it be that way. No, but everyone will have double and it will be
true righteousness. “…Everlasting joy shall be unto them” (Isa. 61:7).
“For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I
will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them” (vs. 8). So this is quite a thing we are going to do in bringing
the rule and government of God on earth. It’s going to be mass conversion.
Can you imagine what it’s going to be like to have the majority of all
people converted with the Spirit of God? Now that is going to be an awesome
thing indeed. But God said He’s going to make an everlasting covenant with
them.
“And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring
among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are
the seed which the LORD hath blessed” (vs. 9). Now granted some of
that spills over into us who are ruling and reigning as kings and priests
with Christ, but it will also be for them.
Now notice, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in
my God…” (vs. 10). And this is the way it’s going to be with everyone. Can
you imagine the events that we are going to have? Can you imagine the things
that we are going to do like what Sabbath services are going to be like?
What singing, what musician work that we’re going to have. What preaching
that we are going to be able to bring to them. Because you see it won’t be
like today. We’re going to be preaching with power and righteousness and
truth because the word of God is going to greatly increase beyond what we
have it here now, you see. Because the knowledge of the Lord is going to
cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. So we’re going to have an
endless amount of things to talk about and teach and preach and to instruct
upon. But the whole thing is that it’s going to be based on the love of God.
Can you imagine a society that is loving God, everyone with all his heart,
with all his mind, with all his soul, with all his being, or with her, all
her heart, all her mind, all her soul, all her being? Where you have
husbands loving wives, and wives loving husbands, and having households with
happy children with no sickness, with no disease. None of these things
coming along. Boy, that’s going to be a thing. And we are the ones who are
going to do it.
Now notice, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in
my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation…” So they are
going to see the whole purpose of things. Way beyond, granted this can apply
to us with the garments of salvation, but during the Millennium are not
those people as they come to the point where they are ready to enter into
the Kingdom of God, will they not be clothed with the garments of salvation
as well? Yes, they will. “…He hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as
the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that
are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and
praise to spring forth before all the nations” (vs. 10-11). And that’s what
God is going to do.
So that’s how God is going to perform the things during the Millennium. And
brethren, what a great and a marvelous thing we have to look forward to,
that we can usher in the Millennium and bring the government of God and the
peace of God and the righteousness of God, and everlasting salvation to all
the people of the world. That’s why this Feast of Tabernacles is so great
and so powerful.
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