Now let’s continue on. Isaiah 2:3: “And many people shall go and say…” Now notice it doesn’t say all people. Now that’s important. So there will be those who will want to yield to God, the kingdom of God, and as we will see it will start with Israel first. “…And say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law…” The very law that the Protestants hate. And the law of God has never changed. You need to understand that. Only the rituals and sacrifices have been superceded by greater. Now notice: “…and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people…” Why? “…And they shall beat their swords into plowshares…” See, so there’s still going to be these insurgents, and terrorists, and remnants fighting against the implementation of the kingdom of God on earth. And just like everything else that God does: He gives man choice and He gives man leeway to see whether they will obey or not. And if they will not, after a given period of time, then He’s going to exercise His power and His authority over them so they are going to learn, because God is not going to be mocked. “…And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:1-4). See, so He’s going to judge the nations afar off. That’s exactly what He’s going to do.

Now let’s see, since we have seen the kind of attitude and the kind of things that we have in the Middle East, and with the Muslim religion and so forth, let’s come to Ezekiel 38 and see one of the most profound things that’s going to take place after the return of Christ, after Israel is brought back from captivity and in the land. And it’s going to take a number of years. How long that will be we do not know. But all of those nations to the north and to the east, out of which came the army of 200 million that fought against Christ, as we saw there in Revelation 16 with the seven last plagues. Just remember there are billions, and billions, and billions of people over there and they’re not all going to die. God has a plan. He knows that just like a lot of these insurgents that were after WWII in Germany, and that are in Iraq now after the transfer of sovereignty and all the things that have been going on there, they have to be ferreted out and they have to be put down, and they either have to repent or be exterminated. That’s how God is going to handle it. That’s what He means “rebuke them afar off.”

Now let’s see what happens here, and what it’s going to do for the millennium. The beginning of the millennium is going to be a very difficult time indeed. Some people will come and say, “Oh, let’s go up and learn God’s way.” A lot of other people are going to say, “Well, we don’t know about this. This looks like these are the aliens from outer space. We better go up and we better fight against them. We better take back the world to ourselves.” And that’s exactly what they’re going to try and do.

Now Ezekiel 38:1: “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…” (Ezek. 38:1-2). Now we’re going to see… Come over here to verse 11 so that we understand the time setting. “And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages…” Now you can’t call Jerusalem unwalled villages. As a matter of fact they’re building walls, aren’t they? Yes. “…I will go to them that are at rest…” Because you see God deals with Israel first, then the rest of the world. So God is going to deal with Israel first, and those nations who volunteer to come under the sovereignty of the kingdom of God and the rule of Jesus Christ and the saints. There will be some who won’t want to. And as it says, great nations afar off He’s going to rebuke. Well all these nations we’re talking about here are afar off from Jerusalem.

Now back here to verse 3 and let’s follow the story flow. “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 put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya [which actually means Kush and Phut from India] with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited…” (verses 3-8). So God is going to rule on earth beginning in Jerusalem; bring back the captivity of the children of Israel out of their captivity; establish them in their land. They will be building. They will be planting. God will be blessing them. And then these nations out there who don’t want to submit, they’re going to know what’s going on.

“After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste [that is, since the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD]: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil…” Because you see, they are going to be prosperous, they are going to have plenty, God is going to be blessing Israel, and they are going to want to take it. “…And to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations [so Israel is back in the land], which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?” (verses 8-13). “Are you going to come and take away the blessings that I God have given to the children of Israel who are at rest? Are you going to resist the kingdom of God? Are you going to resist the rule of Christ and the saints? Are you going to come with your power and your armies and think that you are going to conquer and take back and take away?”

God has something special for them. Verse 14: “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army [a reoccurrence of Genghis Khan, if we could put it that way]: and thou shalt come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against My land…” Here’s the purpose. Why does God do all of this? Because you see, He wants everyone to submit through repentance and choice voluntarily. Those who won’t He’s going to make an example that there will never ever, ever again during the millennium (except at the end as we will see) will war, rebellion, and anarchy, and killing rule again. He’s going to make this an example. “I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know Me…” They don’t know God. They know Buddha, they know Confucius, they know Mohammad, they know Islam. They know whatever kind of form of religion that they have, but not the true God. And in India they’ve got so many gods that there is hardly any naming of them all. They don’t know God. “…That the heathen may know Me…” God is going to do this for a perpetual and everlasting lesson that is going to carry right through the millennium. “…When I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes” (verses 14-16).

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that My fury shall come up in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother” (verses 17-21). So they’re going to get all there and then God is going to set them in confusion. They’re going to start fighting among each other and killing each other. You know, God has done that before. That’s one of the weapons that God does. He puts it in their minds to fight against each other. Now that won’t be too terribly hard to do. I mean, all you have to do is just look at the radicalism of the different groups that are out there today. They fight against each other. So it’s going to be something.

“And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” So when they come up and they’re going to go and try and attack and take over the land of Israel with Israel back in the land living in peace and prosperity, and worshipping God and keeping the Sabbath and the holy days, and all the things that God wants them to do, and they’re going to come up and want to take over. So God is going to fight with the same weapons He’s always fought against. You can read this in the book of Exodus when He freed the children of Israel from Egypt. You can read of this in the book of Revelation with the seven last plagues and so forth. These are the weapons of God that He uses against men. Now notice what this is going to do: “Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD” (verses 22-23). Well, that’s going to be pretty powerful, isn’t it? And if there are any left back in the homeland, they’re going to go back and say, “It is God! Forget everything you’ve ever thought that you’re going to do. Repent and submit.” So that will be something, won’t it? I mean you think about it.

Now let’s look at the first few verses in chapter 39. “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…” (Ezek. 39:1-2). So out of all of those that are left, even subtracting out all of those that were killed in the seven last plagues and the battles leading up to it, then He’s only going to leave one sixth left. See, God is not going to put up with rebellion and anarchy. When the kingdom of God, with Christ ruling, comes to this earth it is going to rule in love, in peace, in understanding. But for those who rebel it’s going to be power, and force, and pestilence, and fire, and brimstone, and hailstones. So that’s going to be what they’re going to be faced with. I couldn’t help but thinking of that when I saw the documentary about what happened in Germany after WWII, and then seeing what is happening after the conflict here in Iraq and the supposed war on terror. And it’s also another lesson: a few sinful men can do a great deal of damage. And God is not going to allow that. That’s why He says in Revelation 2 that we are going to rule them (that is shepherd them, but rule them) with a rod of iron. And if they don’t do the will of God, they’re going to be broken in pieces just like you take a pot and just bust it into shards. Because Jesus Christ is going to show that no one can come against Him. No one can come against the spiritual saints of God that are ruling this world. Look at the weapons. That’s going to be something. A sixth part of you.

“…And will cause thee to come up from the north parts…” Just like everything else, God raises up the evil ones by letting them do their own thing. And they think that they have power and success because they are accomplishing these things and they don’t know that they are on their way to meet their maker. And He says: “…[I] will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” So immediately God sends in the animals and birds, which are His servants to clean up all the flesh. “Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. 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.” So when the last rebellion is put down then there will be universal peace. But God is going to let them go their own way. God is going to rebuke them. God is going to set them up for the fall. Because the word will go out. They will know. They will have been told that Christ is here ruling from Jerusalem. They will have had an opportunity to go up like the other nations, but refuse to do so. They will have an opportunity to repent so that they can receive the Spirit of God, and that they can stop all of their hateful warmongering and just bloodthirsty and barbarous ways. But they refuse to take it. Now we’ll finish here with verse 7. “So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; 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” (verses 2-7).

Now let’s go on. Let’s see what happens. There has to be a tremendous clean up program after all the birds and animals clean up all the rotten flesh and so forth. And as we read these prophecies and God has given us understanding on how these things unfold through His word, and I just imagine that down through time from the time of the death of the apostles on down until the beginning of what we would call the modern age, it was really difficult for them to understand these Scriptures. So brethren, we need to be thankful that we can understand it. But also know and realize that with this understanding also comes a responsibility. Because no man is given the truth of the knowledge of the Word of God so that it can be taken lightly, or that it can be looked upon as a thing of human discovery, rather than as we started out as God’s revelation through His Spirit.

Now verse 8: “Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons…” You know, just like they are doing in Iraq today. There are great truck convoys going out of Iraq into Turkey carrying weapons; rifles, cannons, bombs, to be all melted down. And so: “…both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years…” Now you stop and think about that. How huge is this army going to be? And I’m sure that not only on the mountains of Israel but as these armies spread back toward the homelands in the north and the east there’s going to be those things there too. “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” (verses 8-10). Now that’s something.

“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 [because right at first, because of the stink of it]: 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.” Just like we’re seeing in Iraq today. How long is it going to take to search out and get all these weapons? Because they now know that what was said of the representatives of Iraq trying to get uranium from the country of Niger was true! And they are finding weapons of mass destruction here and there. Amazing, isn’t it? Well, it’s going to be the same way here. They are going to have to go out and cleanse all of that. “Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD” (verses 11-13). And so here it is, they’re going to have continual employment, verse 14 and so forth. And so that’s what’s going to happen.

So it’s going to be when we’re dealing with human beings, and the problems of war, and the destruction of the earth (which we are going to be confronted with when we come back to this earth with Jesus Christ and set up the kingdom of God), we’re going to be confronted with massive real human problems. And we’re going to have to correct all of them. Christ is going to have to give us guidance and understanding so we know what to do. But God is going to really make a name for Himself with this. You stop and think about the mammoth proportions of what’s going to happen with Gog and Magog, and it’s really a fantastic thing. There won’t be a rebel left. That’s how God is going to solve the problem.

Now let’s come to Psalm 47. Let’s look at some of the psalms here and see how these things fit in with what we found there in Ezekiel 38 and 39. And I tell you – it’s going to be something. God isn’t going to allow or tolerate rebellion. But what He’s going to do is gather up all the rebels together and let them come, and take care of them all at once.

Now Psalm 47:1: “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” That’s what Israel is going to do when they see how God has fought against Gog and Magog, and Meshech and Tubal, and all of the countries of the north and the east and everything. They’re going to shout with joy. “For the LORD most high is terrible [awesome – look what He did]; He is a great King over all the earth.” Literal fulfillment. “He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.” And that refers to us who are going to rule and reign over the heathen. Amazing thing, isn’t it? There it is right in the Word of God. “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved.” And of course Jacobs name was changed to Israel, and we are spiritual Israel. “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding” (Psa. 47:1-7). Now you know how He’s going to be King over all the earth, and the great power He’s going to exercise, and our part in it. And the part of the children of Israel, the physical children of Israel brought back out of captivity.

Now notice verse 8: “God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness [ruling out of Jerusalem].” Now remember what we read in Isaiah 2: the throne of God is going to be there and many people are going to come and say, “Let us learn of His ways.” The law is going to go forth out of Zion. Here it’s explaining it right here. “The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham…”, which then are what? The spiritual children of God ruling with Jesus Christ. Now you put that together with the understanding of the covenant that God gave Abraham back in Genesis 15. So you see, the plan of God goes way back before the creation of the earth. But it is solidified through Abraham and comes down through the children of Israel, and then down to the church – the spiritual children of Abraham. And that’s what it’s talking about here. “...Even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted” (verses 8-9). Now then there will be the peace which will come.

Psalm 50:1: “The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.” In other words around the whole earth. That’s what it’s talking about. “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people [and judge the world]. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Now we’ll expand on that tomorrow because that has to do with our relationship with God and how we prepare to be kings and priests. “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.” (Psa. 50:1-5, 7). So we need to listen to what God has to tell us.

Now let’s come over here to Psalm 98. So this is what it means – the millennium. This is the fulfilling of the millennium. And day one pictures the institution of the millennium. Christ is on the earth, Satan is put away, and now the kingdom of God begins. The government of God begins.

“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.” We just went through and described it, didn’t we? Yes, indeed. “The LORD hath made known His salvation…”, and the heathen know Him. And now has been sanctified in Gog and Magog, and all the earth will be under the control and power of Jesus Christ and the saints of God. Marvelous thing. “…His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psa. 98:1-3). And that’s what this day is going to picture when Gog and Magog have been put down and destroyed, and the last human enemies against the imposition of the kingdom of God on earth.

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; for He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity” (verses 4-9). Amazing thing, isn’t it?

Brethren, let’s understand we have been called to the greatest calling possible. We have understanding that as Jesus said that other people do not have. And with that comes a great responsibility that we serve God with love, with joy, with zeal, with loyalty, with determination, with understanding, with faith, with hope, with all the attributes of the Holy Spirit because this is the greatest thing that we could possibly be involved in, in ushering in the rule of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God on earth.

Now notice Psalm 99: “The LORD reigneth…” Now there are several psalms that say “the Lord reigns.” “…Let the people tremble: He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The LORD is great in Zion; and He is high above all the people. Let them praise Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy” (Psa. 99:1-3). That goes right back to Psalm 2, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. It’s going to be an amazing thing.

Now let’s see, after we get all of this done, what is going to be the outcome of it? Let’s come to Isaiah 11. We’re going to see what happens. See, God has the power. God is going to change and recreate and reform the earth, and with His Spirit with Israel, with bringing conversion to the heathen, bringing His way to the whole earth, then we are going to see what will happen here.

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding…” This is going to be the rule that we are also going to bring in, and it has a lot to do with how we prepare to be kings and priests, which we’ll cover tomorrow. “…The spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth [just like it says back there in Revelation 2 - “smite them with a rod of iron”], and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (Isa. 11:1-5). And then everything is going to be changed - human nature, animal nature. The way that the earth is, is going to be beautiful, and marvelous, and harmonious.

And not only are they not going to learn war anymore, there’s also going to be a change in the nature of the animals. Verse 6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” Boy, entirely different, isn’t it. I look at that and every time I read that I think, “Hey, there are not going to be very many plastic toys for the children to play with, right?” Yes, sure there will be some toys. But not like it is today. They’re going to have the real thing. They’re going to have lions and tigers and all of these things. “And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.” Now that’s to show the contrast of the world today with the kingdom of God tomorrow. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain [which ties right in with Isaiah 2, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be exalted]: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (verses 6, 8-9). That’s something, isn’t it? Yes. So that’s how the millennium will start.

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