whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just,
whatever things
are pure, whatever things are lovely,
whatever things
are of good report, if there is any virtue,
if there is
anything praiseworthy, think/meditate on these things.
(Philippians
4:8)
(NB: If you are uncomfortable with, dislike or are prone to be upset
with scripturally-based speculation on things eschatological, do not read this post.)
Honestly, I can
think of nothing that so completely satisfies the above criteria than that
promised age to which all 66 books of The Bible point as a major aspect of the culmination of
life on earth as we know it -- The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ! This age
will reportedly (in the closing chapters of The Book of Revelation) be followed
by:
(a) the release of satan & co. from their millennial prison in order to tempt humanity into increased sinfulness,
(b) another massive attack on Israel and Jerusalem, where incredible wealth will have been accumulated during the Millennial Reign, and where 'the saints' will be gathered. (Which saints -- mortal or immortal? See: Salvation in the Millennium (Series))
(c) The Lord's subsequent intervention to end this, the final human rebellion against all things righteous,
(d) the resurrection of all people who will have missed the first resurrection. because they were either not righteous, having rejected God' offer of forgiveness and righteousness, or they were not yet born and later embraced salvation.
(e) the Great White Throne judgment and sentence, and then
(f) what we generally
refer to as ‘eternity’.
In response to
the above admonition, let’s ‘think on
things millennial’, beginning with these poignant questions:
--Are you ready for the Millennial Reign of Christ? Will you be there?
--Will there be
mortal survivors of the Great Tribulation, along with resurrected, then immortal believers?
While many
Bible commentaries address this latter topic, for me, Isaiah 65:20 provides
perhaps the clearest, most succinct insight to this question:
No more shall an infant from there live but a few
days,
nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days,
for the child shall die
one hundred years old,
but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be
accursed.
Here, the
operative phrase is, ‘for the child shall
die’.
News
Flash! Only mortals
die, thus it seems apparent that some mortals must necessarily survive the horrors of the Great Tribulation
(the predicted final horrible half of the 7-year Tribulation period), otherwise
from where would they come in order to
die?!
Secondly,
during the millennium, Christ will rule the nations with a 'rod of iron',
namely His Word. I suspect He will have no need to rule His immortal believers
(The Church, redeemed) with such an iron rod, thus this also suggests the
presence of mortals over whom Jesus and His immortal saints will rule.
Finally,
Zechariah 14:16-19 hints of the possibility of sinful disobedience during The Millennial Reign of Christ, by survivors in the very nations (noted in Ezekiel 38) whose armies will
have been destroyed by what we today understand may be the effects of a nuclear
blast either during the 1st War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38), and/or the Armageddon War (Revelation 19:11-21). (NB: Zechariah does not predict a blast, but he
certainly predicts the effects.)
And this shall
be the plague with which The Lord will strike all the people who fought against
Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their
eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their
mouths…And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year-to-year to worship The King
(Jesus Christ), The Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it
shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to
Jerusalem to worship The King (i.e., sin),
The Lord of Hosts, on them there will be no rain. (Zechariah 14:12, 16-17)
Imagine that…mortals and visible immortals co-populating earth – a
first! Think of all the fascinating issues this will raise!!! Here are a few
that I see. (Feel free to disagree or add
to this list.)
Overview
1. There will
indeed be two kinds of people – a world
population comprising mortals (who can/will die) and immortals (the resurrected
righteous from across all the ages, in eternal bodies just like Jesus').
2. Though mortals may live much longer than now, overpopulation may not be a problem for some time.
Basis? A major proportion of
world population will have been destroyed during the Great Tribulation. Also,
depending upon the financial, economic and productive systems of that age, the
typical reasons for having children in much of our world today (e.g., farm
labor, parental social security, etc.) may not carry-over into the millennium. The Earth, then refreshed, perhaps as in Genesis 1, will be much more productive and resourceful.
3. People and
animals will return to our original diets, as spelled out in Genesis 1:30. They will be vegetarians and herbivores, respectively, and
will live together peacefully. Basis?
Twice God affirms, ‘They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain (worldwide government), for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of The Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’
(Isaiah 11:9), and again, ‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says The Lord.’ (Isaiah
65:25) I doubt this refers to post-millennial eternity.
News
Flash! Animals attacking humans HURT! Abattoirs killing animals HURT! Compare Genesis 1:29-30 [pre-flood], with Genesis 9:3 [post-flood] and you will see how diets will once again flip during the Millennial Reign to those of the pre-flood era. This also explains how Noah was able to feed animals during their year-long ride in the ark, and why animals did not eat each other.
4. satan and
his crew of demons will be locked up and away until their post-millennium release for a 'little while'! (Revelation 20:3)
5. In addition to having destroyed the armies in the 1st War of Gog and Magog, and the Armageddon War, The Lord will also 'seek to destroy' much of the 5 nations that will have attacked Israel. (Zechariah 12:9) Representatives of the surviving remnants of these nations will be required to migrate annually to The Lord's Feast of
Tabernacles in Jerusalem. (See: A Forced Reconciliation (Poem)) Imagine the logistics this implies, depending upon the sizes of the remnant populations and number of representatives per family in these nations. Jerusalem will be significantly 'raised up', while the rest of Israel will be a low-level plain. In The Lord's Feast of Tabernacles, I doubt there will ever be a dysfunctional ‘no room in the inn’
experience like Jesus and His parents encountered at His birth!
6. Connecting the dots between Ezekiel 38:5-6 and Zechariah 14:16-19, imagine this: Jews, Persians (Iranians), Libyans, Ethiopians and representatives from two other nations spread-out across Jerusalem in booths/tents, all worshiping Jesus!!! My, oh my... *
Immortals will…
1. Live in
‘glorified bodies’ just like Jesus (1 John 3:2), capable of
‘de-molecularizing/re-molecularizing’ (‘beam
me up, Scottie’?). From a physics point of view, changing molecular
structure facilitates transportation, morphing appearance (Luke 24:15-16),
passing through solid objects, etc.
2. Be endowed with wisdom to facilitate The Lord's global reign. Thus we will endowed with adequate wisdom, and possibly some of His spiritual and physical capabilities, possibly as the holy angels are now.
3. Be able
to eat/drink physical food. Go figure!
(Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18, Luke 24:43)
4. Be ‘like angels’, i.e., asexual
beings/no sex or procreation, and will likely not need sleep. But unlike angels today, we will be physical and visible. (Matthew 22:30,
Mark 12:25, Luke 20:36, Revelation 4:8)
5. Be assigned geographically (a) as ‘kings’, i.e., delegated
rulers and officials over cities/nations; (b) as ‘priests’ to facilitate interfacing between
the worldwide kingship of Jesus and mortals; and (c) presumably as
administrators in a global strata of servants to facilitate governmental
affairs, both in headquarters (Jerusalem) and across the world as staff members
in the (always) separate and distinct ‘offices’ of the appointed kings and
priests. (Revelation 1:6, 5:10) As a former career U.S. diplomat, I imagine this structure might be somewhat like the structure and connections between Washington, D.C. and U.S. embassies across the world.
6. Not commit
sin in Jesus’ government on earth, nor in eternity in the new heaven and new
earth. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
7. Potentially remain on Earth post-Millennial Reign. Revelation 20:9 does not address the question, 'Which saints will be attacked post-Millennial Reign -- mortals or immortals?' See: Salvation in the Millennium (Series)
8. Enter into eternal rest with Jesus Christ, the final stage of ‘His
rest’.
Mortals will…
1. Inherit earth, then refreshed, possibly as in Genesis 1, and possibly as one land mass (super-continent), a plain with no mountains. This could possibly facilitate global governance. This depends on connecting the dots and plausible interpretations of hints in Isaiah 13:11 - 13, Ezekiel 38:19 - 20, Joel 3, Haggai 2:6 - 7, 21 - 2, Matthew 24:29, Mark 13: 24 - 25, and Revelation 16:18 - 20.
2. Procreate
sexually and re-populate earth
3. Be ruled by
Christ through His resurrected saints from across the ages
4. Be capable
of committing sin
5. Need sleep, food and all other physical necessities of life
6. Likely live long in bodies that atrophy and die
7. Likely
rebel, possibly against Christ’s ‘iron rod’ rule, and also out of jealousy
toward us immortals.
Human history affirms we tend to rebel following lengthy
periods of ‘iron fist’ rule, thus it isn’t difficult to imagine this trait carrying-over
into the millennium. This might help set the stage for the final human rebellion
against God (the 2nd War of Gog and Magog, Revelation 19:11-21) after satan and his crew will have been released to tempt and deceive the
mortals. (Revelation 20:7-10) And just as there will be a significant financial/economic motivations that will trigger the 1st War of Gog and Magog (i.e., wealth and food in Israel in the midst of the Great Tribulation, per Ezekiel 38:12 - 13), there will likely be major financial/economic motivations for the predicted final rebellion, the 2nd War of Gog and Magog (i.e., massive wealth that will have been accumulated for Jesus during His thousand-year reign, per Isaiah 60) sometime after the Millennial Reign. (Revelation 20:7 - 10)
Issues ‘n
Questions without Answers
A. What kind of
kingdom do you imagine this will be. The closest the world has reportedly come
to a worldwide kingdom may be Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. (Daniel 4:1) We may be
tempted to consider ‘iron rod rule’ as being akin to ‘iron-fisted rule’. Psalm
2, Daniel 2 and Zechariah 14 paint a picture of a wrathful, dominating King,
the Lamb who will have become a ROARING LION not the loving, grace-giving, sacrificing lamb-like Christ. Will The Lord, who does not change, actually change His comportment towards un-repentant mortal humans, including those who will still have the mark of the beast in their flesh?
B. Will some mortals likely be saved during the millennium? The Bible
predicts many people will be saved (become Christ-followers) during the
tribulation period. If
so, when/how might both of these groups become immortal, and take their eternal places among those whom God calls righteous? See: Salvation in the Millennium (Series)
C. Will there
still be ethnicities and ethnic tensions (seeds of tribalism) among mortals? Jews, all of whom will then be in an expanded Israel, will be a highly-privileged group.
D. Might angels then be visible? John affirms resurrected saints will be like Jesus, and Jesus affirms we will be like angels. But will angels be like us? (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25 and 1 John 3:2)
E. What might recovery and rehabilitation initiatives look like in the immediate aftermath of the great tribulation and the Armageddon War, over what period of time, and with what potential roles
for the two different population groups? This question pre-supposes the new
heavens and earth, without suns or stars, will not be created until post-millennium,
when ‘the former things [will] have passed away’. (Revelation 21:4) If these
former things include time, then the passing away of time (i.e., the start of eternity)
may very well signal the end of earthly rotations that mark day, night, months,
seasons, years, centuries and yes, millennia. Thus, it seems we
will not be in the new Earth during the millennium, and the destruction
that occurred across the earth during the Great Tribulation will indeed have to
be addressed. From my professional experience, this is referred to as disaster relief, recovery and
rehabilitation.
F. What national and global institutional governance structures are likely to be
established to facilitate this thousand-year reign on earth? For example, what
might justice look like, e.g., beyond the ‘no rain’ hint in Zechariah 14:17.
G. What may be
the principal financial, economic and commercial activities during the
millennium? This question is pertinent in light of the generally accepted
interpretation that spiritual Babylon, as represented in The Book of
Revelation, appears to refer to worldwide commercial systems (merchandizing,
trade, money, etc.) – mankind’s way of meeting needs apart from God, or ‘our
God-substitute’. Revelation 14 and 18 reveal both these systems themselves and
the spirit behind these systems will be destroyed during the Great Tribulation,
but replaced with what? See: OurWorld, Un-moneyed (Poem) The Bible several times affirms there will be no military industrial complex, since 'swords will be turned into plowshares'. Does this mean agriculture will be subsistence, not large scale commercial?
H. Might survivors of the Great Tribulation hold long-term grudges against Jesus and His immortal
saints for the punishing horrors they and their ancestors will have suffered, for killing
their sons, daughters and compatriots (in the 1st War of Gog and Magog, and the War of Armageddon), with the ‘effects’ of what we today
would call a nuclear blast, and for destroying the nations from which these soldiers were dispatched? (Zechariah 14:12 and 12:9)
I. Will issues of our day still be relevant? What about global
warming from the use of dirty fossil fuels (or might new fuel sources become
available?); international migration (made worse to escape those parts of earth
most heavily damaged during the Great Tribulation plagues?); inadequate participative
governance (will the mortals have any
role in their governance?), fresh water shortages, etc., etc.? On the last
point, I, for one, would really like to be on coasts when the waterways are
cleaned up, i.e., cleaned up from all the trash and military products cast therein; cleaned up from the acidic effects of climate change; and turned from blood back to water! (Revelation
8:8, 16:3-4)
J. Science has argued for eons that the current order of
the universe and our world evolved from chaos (a big bang). In our world of
atrophy, the opposite usually happens! Yet, consider the ‘chaos-to-peace’ transitions recorded in (a) Genesis 1 (order out
of darkness and chaos!); (b) the Great Tribulation, Armageddon and the
Millennial Reign age; and (c) the end of the Millennial Reign age, when satan (and presumably his crew of demons) is released to
trigger rebellion and the 2nd War of Gog and Magog (Revelation 20:11-15)), but will be followed by an eternity of peace.
K. What do you imagine could possibly be YOUR role(s) during this thousand years, and why? I have long
suspected our roles then may be related in some manner to our mortal lives on
earth…our testing or proving ground, so to speak, e.g., in
terms of our faith, faithfulness and obedience, and engagement in sharing
The Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Beyond these, I can’t
help but wonder whether some key aspects of our carnal lives (e.g., gifts,
skills, professions, achievements, relationships, etc.) might also
influence/inform our roles during the millennium. And might these roles change,
or perhaps be static? Consider Paul’s advice to Timothy concerning ‘vessels of
honor and of dishonor’. Imagine being a vessel of dishonor for a
thousand years! According to Paul, we have a choice!
Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from
iniquity/sin. But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and
silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (iniquity/sin), he/she
will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for The Master, prepared for
every good work. (2 Timothy 2:19-21)
My Friends, based on The Bible’s ‘batting average’, it is
assured that the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ will indeed become a
historical fact, a real event, and not simply some spiritual reference.
Also, based on current and unfolding world events, Christian scholars conclude
the catching away of The Church (in the next rapture) appears to be the next most
likely MAJOR prophetic event to occur! This will signal the start of the promised
7-year Tribulation, the last half of which will be the Great Tribulation, followed by 'the next BIGGEST, LONGEST thing on The Lord's multi-millennial strategic plan for humanity', namely His reign as King-of-Kings, Lord-of-Lords and global King for a thousand
years.
In closing, again I ask…
Are you ready
for the Millennial Reign of Christ?
Think/meditate on these things…
----------
* See: A Forced Reconciliation (Poem)
