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Now continuing on in verse 12. “Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not
find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against
thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the LORD thy
God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee”
(vs. 12-13). Now I want you to stop right here and just think in your
own life. Whatever your circumstances are, whatever the difficulty may
be, fear not. God says He will help you. Trust in that
help. Rely in that help. Come to God in faith and ask for that help.
He promised.
Now notice, verse 14. “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men
of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel.” And so then He shows what He’s going to do here in
fighting against those who fought against Israel. Now we’ll see that
in just a minute.
Let’s come to Ezekiel 36 and let’s see what else is going to happen to
Israel and then we will see how God will begin dealing with the other
nations of the world. But Israel is going to be saved first, and we’re
going to have a part in that, a great part in that.
Ok, Ezekiel 36:23, “And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned
among the heathen…” Now we’re going to see how He will do this in a little
bit. “…Which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen
shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be
sanctified in you before their eyes.” So first the nations of the
world are going to see what’s happening to Israel. Then He’s going to
be dealing with those nations and He will be sanctified in their eyes.
“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all
countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols, will I cleanse you” (Ezek. 36:23-25).
Now, here’s what’s going to happen. The hard carnal heart is going to
be softened. And that’s going to be something. You think about
it, because no more is Satan there, the prince of the power of the air with
the wave lengths going out to cover the whole earth and seduce men into
sinning. Verse 26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Now changing the
attitude, isn’t that something? “And I will put My spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do
them” (vs. 26-27).
Now let’s understand something here very profound what this is telling us.
“I will put My Spirit within you…” When we are baptized and receive
the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is within us. Now you see, this
does not release us from keeping the commandments and laws of God. No,
quite the other way around. It gives us the heart and the mind through
conversion to be willing to keep them. And this is what is going to
happen to Israel. So you see the only way you can truly keep the laws
and commandment and statutes and judgments of God is with the Holy Spirit of
God. Just the opposite of what all these religionists have been
telling all of the Protestants, and the Catholics telling their people that.
Yes.
“…And cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and
do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will
also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and
will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the
fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no
more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your
own evil ways…” (Eze. 36:27-31).
Now this also shows a progression in repentance, doesn’t it. This
shows exactly what the New Testament is talking about. God leads us to
repentance so that we come to the point of baptism. We receive the
Holy Spirit out of baptism through the laying on of hands, then we begin
keeping the commandments of God, and then we start struggling against our
human nature and what do we really do? This shows a progressive
repentance as we understand the depths of carnal nature. Right here,
you shall “…remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were
not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities
and for your abominations” (vs. 31). And so they will come to deep
repentance.
Now let’s take this as a lesson for us. Can we apply this to us?
Can we come to a deeper repentance by understanding how great God is and
what God has done to save us in this present evil world. And to give
us the great hope that He’s given to give us this what we’re talking about
here to really look forward to, to helping save Israel and helping save the
whole world. This is fantastic, brethren.
Verse 32, “Not for your sakes do I this, saith the LORD GOD, be it
known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of
Israel.” And they will. So we will help preach this message of
repentance to them, and we will help lead them to repentance. “Thus
saith the LORD GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your
iniquities I will also cause you
to dwell in the cities, and the wastes [waste places] shall be builded” (vs.
32-33). And it’s going to be something. They’re going to go and
rebuild the cities this way, this time the right way. They are going
to undo all the things that they have done physically and it’s going to be
rebuilt according to the plan and the purpose of God.
“And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the
sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was
desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and
ruined cities are become fenced, and
are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know
that I the LORD build the ruined places…” Now you see how it always
talks about the heathen after Israel is saved first. “…That I the LORD
build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I
the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it” (vs. 34-36).
This is His purpose. Remember when we started out that the thought of
the LORD is going to be done. And He says that He will do it.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the
house of Israel, to do it
for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock,
as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts: so shall the waste cities be
filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD”
(vs. 37-38). So that’s quite a thing. So they shall know.
They don’t know now but they will know then. And we’re going to help
teach them, and they are going to know.
Now let’s come over here to Ezekiel 37:23. “Neither shall they defile
themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor
with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall
they be My people, and I will be their God. And David My servant
shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd [Who will
then be Christ]; they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My
statutes, and do them [which then means all the commandments of God and the
holy days of God]. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given
unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell
therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children
for ever: and My servant David shall be their prince for ever.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them [that is this new
covenant we read about in Jeremiah 31]; it shall be an everlasting covenant
with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be
with them: ye, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Now
notice again verse 28, “And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do
sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for
evermore” (Eze. 37:23-28). Now what about the rest of the nations?
Notice Israel first, before anything is done, is going to be an example to
what God is going to do to the rest of the world.
All right, let’s come to Isaiah 2:1 and let’s see what God is going to do
to the rest of the nations. We’ll see what’s going to happen here.
“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
And it shall come to pass in the last days…” We’ve been reading about it.
The beginning of the millennium is part of the last days also because it
overlaps. “…That the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be
established in the top of the mountains [mountains means kingdoms or
governments], and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall
flow unto it.” So now He’s going to start dealing with all the
nations. “And many people [now not all, starts out with many] shall go
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, and the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:1-3).
Now notice verse 4. Here is how He’s going to begin dealing with the
nations. “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many
people…” Because He’s going to let the nations think that after the
physical things of the earth have been settled down, the sea is more normal
and natural, even though their cities and everything have been destroyed and
their land has been upset with earthquakes and things, there will be people
of the nations who will begin to recover themselves and begin to live in
their cities again. They will have heard that God is there with Israel
in Jerusalem, but a lot of them won’t believe that it’s really God.
Because you see, all the nations armies gather together was not every army
that they had, as we will see a little later on. They fought Christ
Who came from outer space. And even though they hear that it’s going
to be the Lord Who’s reigning. They won’t understand that it’s truly
God. They will think that it is some foreign alien coming from outer
space. So they’re going to begin viewing this in a carnal way.
That is why He has to “…judge among the nations and shall rebuke many
people…” Now we’ll see what this rebuke is going to be. And in some
cases it’s going to be really severe. “…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.”
Now right there at the headquarters of the United Nations, the
anti-christ’s headquarters, they have a statue with this quotation, which
was given to the United Nations by the Soviet Union, of all people, and
quoting the scripture here saying that the United Nations is going to
fulfill them. No, the United Nations will not. Only Christ will
fulfill it. He won’t give His honor and glory to any other.
Now let’s see right at the beginning of the millennium how God is going to
deal with the people. Let’s come here to Zechariah 14. This is
very instructive. How is He going to rebuke them? What is He
going to do? How is He going to get their attention? Now
remember He’s giving them a space of time to see what’s happening with
Israel. They can send their representatives down there to Israel and
to Jerusalem and to see what’s happening. They can carry the word of
God back to their country. They can be willing, they can be
cooperative, they can have an opportunity for repentance on their own.
But not all nations are going to do that. He’s going to have to rebuke
some, see. Many nations will come but not all. Some He’s going
to have to rebuke and it says “many nations”. So it’s going to be
quite a thing. All nations are not going to lay down their
weapons immediately. And all are not going to submit to Christ
immediately. There’s more work yet to be done.
Let’s see what happens here. Let’s begin right here in verse 16.
“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to
worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles”
(Zech. 14:16). And this is when they’re going to have an opportunity
to see what God has done with Israel. This is going to give them an
opportunity to see whether they want to submit to the kingdom of God or not.
God is going to give them a choice before He imposes His will. He’s
going to let them have voluntary repentance and voluntary compliance.
Now let’s see what happens if they don’t. Verse 17, “And it shall be,
that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto
Jerusalem to worship the KING, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no
rain.” Now this means obviously you can’t have every person in the
world come to Jerusalem. It’s not talking about that. But there
will be representatives. There will be the elders of these nations.
There will be whoever are the recognized leaders at that time. They
will come up. Now if they don’t come up there’s not going to be any
rain. So that’s how He’s going to begin rebuking them. First of
all, no rain.
“And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no
rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the
heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles” (vs. 18).
First He cuts off the rain and then there will be the plague. Well,
God has always dealt with plagues, hasn’t He? Many different kinds of
plagues. You can read about them. He can send plagues of locust.
He can send plagues of rain. He can send plagues of wind. He can
send plagues of hail. He can send sickness and disease so that they
will get the point when they’re suffering, then perhaps maybe then they will
repent. Verse 19 says, “This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the
punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles.” Well you know, isn’t that interesting, one of the first
things that God is going to do is enforce the Feast of Tabernacles, which
then is a beginning of fulfilling it for them.
Now let’s see what God is going to do to the nations that don’t come up.
Let’s see what’s going to happen. Let’s come back here to Ezekiel 38
and let’s see what’s going to happen to Gog and Magog, because when we get
back to Revelation 20 at the end of the feast it talks about Gog and Magog,
but it’s referring to this that happened before at the beginning of the
millennium. Then there’s something else that will also take place at
the end of the millennium when the thousand years are finished, and we will
cover that on day seven and day eight.
Now let’s begin here in 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…” Now
that’s all the area of Russia and all of the area going clear over to
Siberia. That also includes China. That also includes Japan.
That includes all those nations, and all the other nations that are listed
here with it, so it’s everything going north and east of Jerusalem.
“…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…” (Ezek. 38:1-4). So during this
space of time, whatever time it is that God is working with Israel…now we’ve
heard it said in the past perhaps 3 ½ years. So if that is true,
whatever time it will be it will be a protracted time because they’re able
then to rebuild their armies.
And it says the other nations that will be with them, “Persia, Ethiopia,
and Libya [but that actually means Phut, which is part of northern 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”
(vs. 5-7).
Now verse 8, here begins the time setting for us to understand that this
takes place after Israel has been saved at the beginning of the millennium.
“After many days thou shalt be visited…” Now, “after many days” in some
cases can refer to a period of about 3 ½ years. “…Thou shalt be
visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is
brought back from the sword [that’s Israel - this case the land of Israel in
what we call Palestine today], and is gathered out of many people,
against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is
brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.”
Now this is also going to convince Israel that God is for them, God will
fight with them. They are not to fear. They’ve been redeemed.
“Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm…” Cause they’ll probably get the
reports back saying, “Look, now we can go up there. These cities don’t
have any fortifications. They don’t even have an army. We could
just go up here and we can take it. And look at all that is there.
And we need to replenish our lands, and we need to restock ourselves.
It’s been pretty rough and tough going since that great battle where the
foreign alien came in and destroyed a good portion of our armies and set up
his government over there in Jerusalem. Now look at that. We can
go and we can get it. It’s just for the taking.” You know, just
exactly like God did with Pharaoh. He hardened his heart and then God
hardened his heart. Same thing here. God is going to put hooks
in their jaws and bring them forth, because God’s judgment is going to be
upon them. And these people then will be the ones who are rebuked, and
He then is going to make them beat their swords into plowshares and
their spears into pruning hooks, or the other way around. Swords into
pruning hooks and spears into plowshares.
Now notice, “…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…”, because the millennium has begun.
Israel has been saved. “…That dwell safely, all of them dwelling
without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, 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
[see, that’s after the millennium begins], 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?” (vs. 9-13). Cause they will see all that there.
They won’t be able to resist. Now why is God saying that He is going
to cause this to happen? This is not something God is allowing.
Lot’s of times we say God allows this, and God allows that, and God allows
the other thing. Well maybe He does, but in this case God is causing
this to be.
“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?” Oh, yes they’re going to know. “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: and thou
shalt come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it
shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against My land, that the
heathen may know Me…” This is the whole purpose. Now the whole world
is going to know. All the nations. Now God is going to deal with
all the nations, you see. “…That the heathen may know Me, when I shall
be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 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?” (vs. 14-17).
“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 filled, 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…” (vs. 18-21). Now Israel’s going to remain safe. But
here now with this battle all the nations of the world, all the heathen of
the world are going to be affected by this. This is going to be a
tremendous final battle to establish then the kingdom of God over all
the earth.
Now notice, “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.” Just like we saw last night how that God delivered.
He’s going to deliver Israel again. “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.
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” (vs.
21-23). Now that’s how God is going to establish His reign and rule on
the earth, and He’s going to finalize it through the destruction of Gog and
Magog. Then they will be willing. They they’ll destroy their
idols. They they’ll get rid of all of these things. It’s going
to be something.
Ok, now let’s come over here to chapter 39 and let’s begin… Chapter
39 reiterates all about the war that’s going to happen there. There’s
going to be a mighty war. Now verse 6, “And I will send a fire on
Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles:…” So it’s
going to go clear out to all the islands, even to all those countries.
Now the isles, perhaps maybe that could refer to even Japan or Indonesia, or
some of those because they’re all island nations. “…And they shall
know that I am
the LORD.” So God is really going to make it known, isn’t He? “So
will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel…” (Ezek.
39:6-7). So even Israel is going to be even more convinced that yes,
this is God. God fought for us. God saved us. God did
this. Boy, that’s something. I tell ya, I get all excited when
I’m reading about this.
Ok, “…and I will not let them pollute My holy name anymore: and the
heathen shall know that I am
the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” There it is again, “the heathen shall
know.” They don’t know today. But after this battle they’re
going to know. They didn’t learn the lesson at the battle of
Armageddon. This battle they’re going to learn it. “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, 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:” So this brings us quite a ways
into the millennium, doesn’t it? Yes. Seven years. “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” (vs. 7-10).
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a
place there of graves in Israel…” There’s going to be a monument, a memorial
there. And all the nations that come up to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles from the east and the north during the millennium, they are
going to pass by this place. And it’s going to be an everlasting
memorial about how God established His authority in all the heathen lands.
Quite a thing, isn’t it? Yes. Let’s read it here. “…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 Hamongog. And
seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may
cleans the land.” So it’s seven months just to get rid of bodies, and
it’s going to be seven years that they’re burning all the implements there.
“Yea, all the people of they land shall bury them; and it shall be to
them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD” (vs.
11-13). So this is going to be something. God is going to make
it known, this is how He’s going to rebuke the nations far off. And
it’s going to be some rebuke. Then the millennium can be established.
Then there will be repentance. Then there will be cooperation.
But God is going to first give them a space of time to see if they want to
do this voluntarily. Now if they don’t want to do it voluntarily then
God is going to deal with them and His wrath is going to come, and He’s
going to rebuke them.
Now let’s come back here Isaiah 11. Now then the millennium gets
going full swing. So you might say this is a transition period from
the time that God begins regathering Israel to save Israel, establishes them
in their lands, and then there in the are of Jerusalem there are going to be
a lot of them all there too. And then Gog and Magog come down.
The battle takes place and now the kingdom of God is going to be established
in full force around the whole world.
Now let’s begin here in Isaiah 11:1. “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, 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, and with the breath
of His lips shall He slay the wicked” (Isa. 11:1-4). Now we just saw
how He’s going to do that in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Now let’s continue on here in verse 5. “And righteousness shall be
the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.”
And then the whole nature of the animal world will change. And this
then is the ushering in of the beautiful times, the wonderful time, the
great times. This is what we’re all looking forward to. This is
what the world is looking forward to. And we brethren will be there as
kings and priests and teachers and rulers and governors, and we will help
and we will teach, and we will cause the people to really know about God.
That’s why it’s imperative that we understand God now. That we, with
the Spirit of God, let the mind of Christ be in us. That we know God,
that we love God, that we serve Him with all of our hearts, and mind, and
being. Then we’re going to have this time.
Notice what’s going to happen. “The wolf also shall dwell with the
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid [before that’s what they
fed on]; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a
little child shall lead them” (vs. 6). No more plastic toys.
[Laughter] That doesn’t mean that they won’t have some toys made out
of physical things. But I tell you what, you’re not going to want very
many toys if you’re a child and you’ve got your own pet lion. And
you’ve got your little baby cub there, and you can lead them. And it’s
a tremendous thing that’s going to happen. I mean think of it.
Just think of the relationship that they are going to learn about life, and
about God, and about father and mother, and about everything that way.
It’s going to be tremendous.
Now notice, “And the cow and the bear shall feed [they’ll feed together];
their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like
the ox.” Now I can’t imagine a lion eating grass and then lying down
and chewing it’s cud. I don’t know if it’s going to chew it’s cud or
not, but you know, it’s literally be something to see that take place.
The whole world is going to be changed. All violence is going to be
removed. “And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp…”,
where as the suckling child would be bitten and killed and eaten by the asp.
So this shows a complete reversal of all the penalty that was brought upon
man because of the sins of Adam and Eve. “…And the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. 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” (vs. 7-8). That is a tremendous
thing brethren, but notice it takes a period of time before that will
happen.
Now let’s come here to Psalm 93, and again let’s read this Psalm where it
is “the LORD reigns”. Great and marvelous and wonderful things are
going to take place. “The LORD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty;
the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith
He hath girded Himself: the world also is established…” Now it’s all
established under the sovereign reign of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God
with all the saints fully in charge of everything now. “…That it
cannot be [re]moved.” It’s not going to be moved at all. “Thy
[kingdom] throne is established of old: Thou art from
everlasting. 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. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh
Thine house, O LORD, for ever” (Psa. 93:1-5). So there it is
established.
Now let’s come to Psalm 99. “The LORD reigneth…” Now there are
several Psalms through here that talk about 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.” Now He’s got
it all established. “Let them praise Thy great and [awesome] terrible
name; for it is holy. The king’s strength also loveth
judgment; Thou dost establish equity, Thou executest judgment and
righteousness in Jacob.” And also in all the rest of the world.
And we’re the ones who are going to administer it. “Exalt ye the LORD
our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy” (Psa.
99:1-5).
Now then, what do we have here, verse 6? “Moses and Aaron among His
priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name; they called upon the
LORD, and He answered them.” So they will be resurrected. I
wonder what they’re jobs are going to be? I’m sure that Moses is going
to have a tremendous job, as well as Aaron and Samuel. “He spake unto
them in the cloudy pillar: they kept His testimonies, and the ordinance
that He gave them.” And that also has to do with us concerning
eternal life. “Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: Thou wast a God
that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God
is holy” (vs. 6-9).
Now, Psalm 100. “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.”
Every land, every nation, every country, every kingdom. “Serve the
LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing” (Psa. 100:1-2).
Which will happen every Sabbath. And of course everything’s going to
be restored so then there will be every Sabbath, and then there will be the
proper keeping of the new moons at that time, and every feast day, as we
find there in Isaiah 66:23. And they’re going to come before God with
joyfulness and singing. And I tell you what, just imagine what kind of
singing that is going to be. Imagine the choirs that will be.
We’ll have not only the choirs of the people who will do that, but there
will be choirs of the saints of God, those who are serving God.
There’ll also be the choirs of angels. Boy I tell you what, we’re
going to have singing like never before.
“Know ye that the LORD He is
God: it is He that hath made us, and now we ourselves…” They’re
all going to learn. It’s not for the self. It’s not for the
self-esteem that we have today. “…We are His people, and the
sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and
into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth
endureth to all generations” (vs. 3-5). All down through the
millennium.
So brethren, this is going to be quite a time. And God is going to
establish His power. He’s going to be known in all the nations.
He’s going to solidify His power by destroying all the enemies and bringing
the rest of the people then to repentance and into the kingdom of God, and
then we rule over them as Christ exerts the government of God on the earth.
So that’s how the millennium is going to begin.
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