Now let’s come to Isaiah 62:1. Again, we’re going to see - and isn’t it interesting how much of all of this concerning the kingdom of God is contained in the Old Testament? And it helps maybe give you a little understanding that unless God would open the mind of someone, especially the Jews there at Jerusalem, then they could say, “Well, look, I read all the Word of God here, and all of this shows, this is what the Messiah was going to do when he comes. But this one hasn’t done it, and he has died.” So it gives you a little understanding in it. That’s why Christ had to open the minds of the apostles for them to understand it. And God has to open the minds of us for us to understand. And the day is going to come when all of the Jews down through time who have rejected Jesus Christ, that He is going to open their minds and they will understand. So let’s come here to Isaiah 62, and let’s see how He is going to be dealing with Israel. We’ll see what He does with them.

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” Now this ties in with Isaiah 2, that the law is going to go forth from Zion, and so forth. “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all the kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.” Now this is talking about spiritual Israel, right? Are we not to be given a new name? Yes indeed. Are we not to receive the garments of salvation? Yes indeed. Are we not to have a job and position and rule over the nations with Christ? Yes indeed. Now notice: “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate...” Now then it blends back into the type of physical Israel. “...But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married” (Isa. 62:1-4). Now what does this mean? This means the land and the people are going to be working together in covenant with God to carry out things the way God wants them carried out. And this is all going to be part of the new covenant that God is going to make with Israel and with Judah.

Now let’s come here to Jeremiah 31, and let’s see how this is going to be. When Christ returns He is going to gather all the children of Israel first, the children of Judah, and so forth. We know all of that. And then He is going to make a new covenant with them. Now this new covenant will be very similar to what is like with the covenant that He has given to the church. Only it will be a little different. The church, we have been promised eternal life through the blood and body of Jesus Christ. The church has been promised, though we live in the world, we’re not of the world. And we’re going to have tribulation in the world because of the way it is today. But He says, “Be of good courage,” because Jesus has overcome the world. So we also need to keep that in mind. So here, when Israel is brought back out of captivity and Judah is brought back out of captivity, just like God always does, He enters into a covenant.

Now the covenant that God entered into with Israel at Mount Sinai came to an end with the covenant that God made with the church. The only part of the covenant that was still active in it are the laws and commandments of God, which transcend all covenants, by the way; and all the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that God gave concerning Israel. All of those are fulfilled because of the promise given to Abraham and the will and determination of God beforehand. So now that the millennium is in hand, there needs to be a new covenant. So let’s come here to Jeremiah 31:31: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with house of Israel, and with the house of Judah...” And we can also say, with all nations too, right? Have to be. We saw how it was going to be with Assyria and how it is going to be with Egypt. So there has to be a covenant with them. Now notice what He says here. This is interesting, because this also helps answer the question that there will not be sacrifices during the millennium. “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days...” (Jer. 31:31-33).

Now here is a total change. This is a change of nature, a change of heart, with conversion. Let’s see it: “...After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts...” And that means “to inscribe,” just like you would etch and inscribe, which is really tremendous. Because that’s how our minds function, and our brains function. By all the neurotransmitters and parts of the brain, it is etched, it is memorized, it is put in there. And that is by the power of the Spirit of God. So He’s going to do that for Israel. “...And will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Now this is going to be such a great thing, and it’s going to be so broad and so well known. This is why this is a separate and different covenant than what we have with the New Covenant. Because the next verse tells us: “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD [it isn’t going to be that way]: for they shall all know Me...” (verses 33-34). So that’s a tremendous and different covenant, isn’t it?

You look at the modern nations of Israel today. The covenant that Christ has made with the church surely did not bring this to all Israel. No, like it says - it’s kind of like Job. Today those who think they are Christians are kind of like Job. They have heard of Him with the hearing of the ears, but unlike Job they haven’t repented to receive the Holy Spirit of God and keep His laws and commandments and so forth. They have a form of Christianity, but not the substance of what the Bible really teaches. “...They shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them...” Now you talk about a fantastic way to bring in peace and prosperity. Because peace and prosperity, and love, and kindness, and graciousness, and goodness does not come while there is evil all around. It does not come while there is a carnal mind that is deceptive and filled with evil, and that is against the will of God. “...For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (verse 34). Isn’t that something? So that’s going to be quite a thing. What a change that is going to be.

Let’s come over here to Isaiah 52:7. Now here is what it’s going to be. Here’s how it’s going to carry out. Here’s part of our work: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace...” That’s our job. That’s our mission during the millennium. Now how beautiful our feet are going to be, I don’t know. But they’re certainly going to be a whole lot better than whatever our feet are now, all gnarly, and scraggly, and whatever, and so forth. “...That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Tremendous thing, brethren. Just think, every time I read one of these verses, I want you to understand this, and I want you to think about this, and I want you to keep your mind on this whenever things get difficult, or you get down, or you get a little depressed: what these Scriptures are talking about is talking about what you and I will be doing as the kings and priests under Christ during the millennium. That’s a tremendous thing.

“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with 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 [and of course, the waste places of the world]: 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 ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (verses 8-10). So that’s going to really be quite a thing, salvation to the whole world - one language, one God, one family of God, one law, one standard. You see, that’s what God is proving today with the United Nations. The United Nations is doomed to failure because, number one, it is not of God; number two, because there has to be a change of heart and mind. And in order to have a one world government, you have got to have Christ as the head of it, and you’ve got to have all the saints of God resurrected as spirit beings who are ruling and reigning with Christ. No other government, world government, is going to work. Now they might piece it together for a little while to work for a little while. But it’s not going to work until all nations see eye to eye; until everyone is of one language, serving one God, keeping the same laws and commandments.

The conversion of the world is going to be a tremendous thing. What a task. What an absolute task that is going to be. Now here, turn back one page to Isaiah 51, and here’s what it’s going to be - not only to Israel, but also to all the Gentiles. Now we will see this here. This is going to be quite profound as we come to it and understand it: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look into the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him” (Isa. 51:1-2). So now what’s going to happen? The promise and blessing - here, hold your place right here, and let’s come back here to Genesis 12. Because the promise that God gave to Abraham is going to be an ongoing promise, which is going to be fulfilled all down during the millennium, which is going to be fulfilled in the salvation during the fulfilling of the Last Great Day when the second resurrection takes place. So I want you to understand the magnitude of the blessing and the promise that God gave Abraham. So this is tremendous, isn’t it?

Now notice, just like us, we’re called out of the world. Abraham was called out of the world. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram [whose name was changed to Abraham, because he is the father of many nations], Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee...” (Gen. 12:1). Now just like us, we cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and we cannot enter into the kingdom of God until we love God more than father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, lands, and even our own lives, and we pick up our cross and follow after Christ. So Abraham did the same thing here, same thing that Christ requires of us today.

Now notice the promise: “...and I will make of thee a great nation...” Now what is that great nation? What is that nation? The nation of the resurrected saints, as well as - before the resurrected saints can be, you have to have a physical nation first, don’t you? You have to have physical people first. And so it applies in both ways. But here, a great nation: “...and I will bless thee, and make thy name great...” So here we are reading about in the prophecy of the millennium that there are going to be told, “Look to Abraham. Look to Sarah.” So what’s going to happen? The promises and blessing and fulfillment of the blessing that God is giving Abraham here is going to be fulfilled and multiplied and added to all during the millennium. “…And thou shalt be a blessing” (verse 2).

Now in this life, in this age: “...And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee...” And if that happens during the millennium, the same thing will occur. “...And in thee…” Now notice: “…And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (verse 3). Now you just take and circle “all” - all the families of the earth. And we know this, that in the plan of God that means all the families of the earth from the beginning of Adam and Eve down to the last, where there are no more human beings that are brought into existence. So stop and think about that, brethren. That is something. That’s why the promises of God are so good. That’s why it’s such a tremendous thing. And what we need to do, instead of limiting God in our eyes, and in our minds, we need to take the Word of God and see how God is going to expand this. Not only that, but you think of the promises that God gave to Abraham about the spiritual seed shining as the stars of heaven for ever and ever, Genesis 15 and Matthew 13. That prophecy is going to go on through all eternity, is it not? Yes, because we are going to see that there are nations that are saved who come into Jerusalem, and you know that Abraham is going to be in that new Jerusalem. So what I have said many times in the past, we need to not only think big, we need to think gigantic. In other words, through the mind of God, with the mind of Christ then we can think and understand about these things in as much as possible.

Back here to Isaiah 51, and let’s pick it up here again where we left off right here: “...For I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.” And the increase goes right along with the promise given to Christ: “And of the increase of His government there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7, paraphrased). And in that, Abraham is always going to share. And in that, we are always going to share. So think of that. That’s amazing, isn’t it? Now verse 3: “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden...” So what do we have? It’s like the apostle Peter said, the restitution of all things. And it goes right back to the Garden of Eden. “...And her desert like the garden of the LORD…” Which was where? In Eden. “…Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” So that’s really a tremendous thing that is going to be.

Now let’s look at some more scriptures here that we have which tells us about what’s happening here. Let’s come to Psalm 47. This is a tremendous thing. That’s why when Peter said, “the restoration of all things,” it was spoken by the mouth of all of the prophets since the beginning of the world. So that had to also include Abel, that also had to include Enoch, and so forth. Here, Psalm 47, and here is what describes some of the events that are going on during the millennium - the attitude, mostly the attitude. Yes, as we will see little later, they are going to build the waste places, and so forth. Verse 1: “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD most high is terrible [now that means awesome]; He is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us [now this is talking about the church and the nations under our feet]. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah. 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. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness” (Psa. 47:1-8).

Now that’s how a world government is going to work. And isn’t it interesting, that with the one world government that is coming now, there’s going to be the man of sin, the son of perdition who is going to be the one man and attempt to usurp Christ, who is called the antichrist, and attempt to make it work under Satan’s auspices. That’s why it has to be all destroyed. It’s going to work when Christ sits on His throne. Now notice verse 9: “The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham…” Now who are the people of the God of Abraham? Who are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise? Those who are in the first resurrection. So here again, we see Abraham involved in the whole situation, don’t we? Yes indeed. “...For the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted.” Now that’s quite a thing, isn’t it?

Here, Psalm 48:1-2. This tells us more about what it’s going to be, how it is going to be. And isn’t it interesting, in spite of all the sins and carnality that human beings have, in spite of the human nature that pulls them down, every human being has someplace in his mind, which I am sure God put there, that wants things to be good and perfect. But man doesn’t have the way to make it. Only God can. And so there is the, what you might say, the bifurcation, or the split in human thinking. Because of having the law of sin and death we still want things to be perfect, but we don’t find it within ourselves to do it. That’s why God has to do it. Everyone is going to be, when Christ takes away the hard-heartedness of people and gives them a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone, what a great change that’s going to be in the world. Only God can do that.

Now here, Psalm 48:1: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.” Now that ties in again where we began the feast, with “the mount of the LORD shall be exalted above the mountains, and the nations shall flow to it. And many shall say, ‘Come, let us go up to the house of the Lord, to learn of His ways,’ for the law shall go forth from Zion” (Isaiah 2:2-3, paraphrased), right? Yes indeed. What is that going to be like? I wonder what the Sabbath is going to be like beginning in Jerusalem with Christ there all during the millennium. I wonder what it’s going to be like, because it shows that there are going to be people coming up to visit Jerusalem, coming up to Jerusalem to worship. Tremendous thing, isn’t it?

Now it’s going to be a wonderful thing. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion…” Now that’s not today. It is terrorism, and death, and hatred, and killing, and wretchedness, and murder, and depravity, and religious confusion. It’s like it says back in Revelation 11, it’s Sodom and Egypt it’s so bad. But look at the change here: “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion...” Now God is going to make it that way when Christ puts His feet on the Mount of Olives. It’s going to raise it up, right? And it’s going to exalt it. So it’s going to be completely changed. It’s going to be a beautiful thing that God is going to do. “...On the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled…” (Psalm 48:1-5). Then it blends back into physical Zion, and so forth. So that’s really quite a thing that God has for us here, and what we’re doing, and how we’re going to do it, and how the millennium is going to be run. Absolutely amazing, brethren.

This is why God has given us His Word and given us the knowledge. And a very simple thing happens: as you obey, you understand. As you continue to obey and love God and serve Him, you grow in grace, and you grow in knowledge, and you grow in understanding year after year after year. Which means that we should become more converted year after year. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get rid of your human nature. No, that will be with you till the day you die. When you die that will be the end of it with human nature. So we need to understand that that it is a profound and wonderful thing that God has given us. And so when we talk about all of the things that we understand in the Bible, it’s only because God has given us that understanding because of that.

Now since we’re here in the book of Psalms, let’s go to Psalm 93. This is one of the psalms of “the Lord reigns.” Let’s see how it’s going to be here. This is tremendous. This describes how it’s going to be all during the millennium: “The LORD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty...” And you can put in the margin of your notes there Revelation 1:13-17, the majesty of Christ, Whose countenance shines as the sun in its full strength. But obviously it’s not going to be that way all the time. Because He is going to, just like us, we’re going to be able to tone down the glory that God gives us so we can be more on the human level to be dealing with human beings. God is clothed with majesty, “…the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded Himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting” (Psa. 93:1-2).

Now let’s think of verse 3 this way. Put in your margin there, Isaiah 11. And that’s where it says that the knowledge of the Lord is going to be as the seas, or as the ocean covers the earth. And now when we read verse 3 here, let’s see what this is telling us. This is telling us that knowledge is going to come like the waves of the ocean, more and more and more. Just like you go out and stand alongside the ocean, and here comes a wave. And then here comes another one. And then here comes another one. And the waves never cease, do they? So what verse 3 is telling us is this: is that the knowledge of God and the teaching of God and the power of God is just going to come like waves, coming in like the ocean.

“The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” So that’s something, isn’t it? Can you imagine what the earth is going to be like after 50 years? After 100 years? After 500 years? Can you imagine the ability, and knowledge, and talent of human beings that can be taught the right way, that can be instructed the right way? How all of their talents and their abilities and everything are going to just be so far beyond anything we have today, that we are going to look back on even this whole - what we call the “grand age” at the end - and look at it as nothing but dust and dirt, and filthiness, and rottenness because of all of the evil that has been in our time from the beginning of Adam and Eve down to the return of Jesus Christ. So here it is. “Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh Thine house, O LORD, for ever” (verses 3-5). So that’s a tremendous thing, isn’t it? Brethren, this is what we are going to be doing.

Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 61, and let’s see here - this will be the last thing that we will do, and here again it is showing the work that we’re going to do. Let’s pick it up here in verse 6: “But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD...” ties right in with Revelation 20, right? Yes indeed. “...Men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” So we’re not going to do this for nothing. God is going to give us the riches of the Gentiles. Now we’re going to be, if you think about tithing, which is interesting too. So let’s go back and think about tithing for just a minute. God gave the tithe to the Levites, didn’t He? Yes. Then they were to take of the tithe, and it was a tithe of all things that the children of Israel had. And they were to take a tithe of what was given them and give that to the high priest. Well, who is the High Priest on the earth during the millennium but Jesus Christ? So when it says we “shall eat of the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves,” this is talking about the use of the tithe. God is going to give us that. And then that will be heaped up to Christ, one-tenth of that. So just like God said in Malachi 1, even to the doorkeeper He says, “Why have you despised Me? You don’t open and close the door for nothing.” So likewise, we’re not going to be the priests and ministers of God in the millennium for nothing. Now think about that.

“For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.” And that’s going to be given to us. “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.” Now this is the covenant that we are in. It goes clear back to Abraham, as we have seen. Amazing, isn’t it? “And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles…” (verses. 7-9). Now this is blending spiritual Israel in some verses and physical Israel in other verses. That’s why it tells us of the Old Testament that it’s here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, and line upon line. And just like in the Psalms, it will go along and talk about the contemporary line in one verse, and then it will talk about a future time in the next verse, and then it will talk about a past time further verses down. So it all has to be put together.

So here is a combination of spiritual Israel and physical Israel together. “…And their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.” Both physical Israel during the millennium and spiritual Israel during the millennium. “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 [that’s us], He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as the 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 its to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (verses 9-11).

So there you have it, brethren. This is what we need to keep our eyes and our minds and our hearts on. That’s why Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33, paraphrased).

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