See the series here.
Read this in conjunction with
Ages Transitions Global Judgments
No serious study of end-times prophecies and events would be complete without careful examination of the similarities and differences between the first and the next promised global judgments, namely the global flood and the great tribulation. So, let’s dig in and see what The Bible infers. Please share your comments below, especially on any aspects I may miss.
This series addresses three categories: A. Pre-judgment Acts, (Part1), B. Judgment Processes (Part 2), and C. Post-judgment Life (Part 3). While some aspects of this issue have been addressed in posts throughout this blog, this series augments and summarizes what I perceive relative to the topic.
C. Post-judgment Life (Numbering continues from Part 3A)
17. Diets and life spans
Global flood: The flood was the trigger-point The Lord used to transform the diets of humans and most animals. The change was from the original diet He ordained for both in Genesis 1:29-30, to the modified diet He ordained for mankind in Genesis 9:3-4. Though The Lord did not mention animals’ diet in Genesis 9, it stands to reason that, after animals repopulated Earth and men hunted them for food, animals naturally fought back, and quickly developed …‘the taste of blood’. The rest is history! Before the flood, The Lord decided to reduce the human life span (because of our sinfulness), from several hundreds of years (Methuselah lived 969 years), to 120 years. The diet change very likely played a key role in implementing this decision. Ponder this: Modern medical science confirms a clear link between longevity and a diet rich in plants and fruits -- a point proven across the initial annals of human history! NB: Do you know of any Biblical indication that reduces The Lord’s declared life span for humans? (See: Life Span (Series) )
Great tribulation: The Millennial Reign will be the trigger-point The Lord will use to return the diets of humans and animals to the original diet He ordained in for both in Genesis 1:29-30. This is inferred in Isaiah 11:6-9 and 65:17-25. Though these verses only refer to or infer animal diets, Isaiah 65:20 speaks of a child dying at age 100. This seems to signal a planned return to long life spans for humans born during The Millennial Reign. NB: Perceptive care must be taken in reading these and other chapters in Isaiah that appear to conflate The Lord’s Millennial Reign, and the new, eternal heavens and Earth He promised to create. In the latter, there will be no death among immortal beings, as death and hell will be cast into the eternal lake of fire, which will also be on this new Earth! (See: Isaiah 66:22-24, Revelation 22 and also Earth’s Next Versions (Series)) Ponder this: Because of sin, The Lord deferred to His modified diet and greatly reduced life span for humans, it stands to reason that, when He and His saints are here to enforce righteousness, He will return humans to His original diet, and to our original, lengthy life span. Makes sense?
18. Economic system(s) and occupations
Global flood: Noah and his family had the responsibility for devising a workable financial and economic system, and rekindling occupations for their growing families. Surely, their pre-flood wisdom was critical in performing their roles. As noted, Noah became a farmer, and I imagine he and his sons applied their skills as builders. Over time, mankind devised a variety of complex economic systems. The diversity of languages and cultures, which The Lord triggered at the Tower of Babel, no doubt facilitated this.
Great tribulation: The Old Testament prophets give us only a few snippets of how life systems might be organized in The Millennial Reign. For sure, there will be no warfare and no military industrial complexes as there are currently strewn across the Earth. (Isaiah 2:1-4, Micah 4:1-3 Imagine the lives that will be prolonged, and the massive financial, economic, and environmental benefits that will accrue over such a lengthy time period without any wars on Earth! Isaiah predicts massive wealth of every kind will accumulate in Israel as people, the world over, seek to curry favor from The Lord. In days of old, all wealth was derived from the land (mining, fishing, various types of animal husbandry, skills crafts, etc.) Today, mankind has devised many ways to derive wealth other than from the land. Ponder this: The Bible declares many times that The Lord God is the fount of ALL knowledge, wisdom and understanding. As such, ALL that mankind has learned over the millennia, has come from Him, as in ‘…precept-upon-precept, line-upon-line, here a little, there a little…’ (Isaiah 28:9-13) In light of this, exactly how He will organize life during His Millennial Reign is literally beyond anyone’s imagination! Yet, we are creatures who are inclined …to imagine…
19. Earth’s ecology and geology
Global flood: The Lord triggered the flood by breaking up the fountains of the deep, and opening the windows of the heavens. Does the latter infer water from other universal bodies? A planetary flood would undoubtedly change everything. The degree of the water’s salinity would influence the nature and extent of many changes. I imagine The Lord’s creative interventions over-rode all negative impacts, ensuring Noah, his family and the surviving animals disembarked the ark into a pristine, Eden-like world. I also imagine He may have done the same or similar after satan and his crew slammed onto the Earth after their rebellion in, and expulsion from Heaven. (Search this blog for the gap theory)
Great tribulation: As noted, The Lord promised ‘once again’ to shake both the stellar heavens and the entire Earth violently. This prompts the question, ‘When did He shake them both violently, previously, and what were the results?!’ Well, the manner in which He triggered the flood is the obvious answer. If/if Earth was once one land mass, as some scientists speculate, and as a global puzzle map suggests, violent earthquakes and aftershocks might have created the continents. If so, it is worth considering whether the patterns revealed in His Millennial Reign promises about one language, one (original) diet, and all people serving Him in one accord, might similarly apply to Earth’s ecology and geology. (See Judgment earthquakes in Part 1) Similarly, promises that every mountain will fall down raises my curiosity. For example, will this only apply in Israel, to make all the land a plain, except Jerusalem, or will it apply globally? (Ezekiel 38:18-23) If globally, is there any close correlation between the volume of Earth’s mountains and that of her oceans and rivers? (I note there is no mention in The Bible of oceans.) And what might the global collapse of all mountains infer regarding oceans and rivers, or potentially, all the Earth, except Jerusalem, becoming a plain, as is predicted for Israel in The Millennial Reign age?
20. Languages and cultures
Global flood: Only one language survived the flood, per Genesis 11:1. Thus, it is safe to presume only one culture survived the flood, if Noah’s sons married within their culture. When Noah’s descendants began to build a city and a tower, The Lord confused their language. Thus, He achieved His objective for them to ‘multiply and fill the Earth’. This is the genesis of languages spoken today. Cultures, tribes and societies derive from languages. So all cultures, tribes and societies similarly derived from the tower of Babel experience. Ponder this: After that, experiential knowledge of The Lord seems to have died until He revealed Himself to Abram (later renamed Abraham), who was born in the tenth generation after Noah. From among the many languages, cultures, tribes and societies on Earth after Babel, He sought one man, from which to create one language, culture and society through which He would be born as a human being to pay our sin price. The Lord found His ...'needle in the huge haystack of humanity!’
Great tribulation: The Lord promises to restore to the peoples (all tribulation survivors and their descendants) one pure language, so they all may call on His Name, and serve Him with one accord. (Zephaniah 3:8-9) Since a significant number of people will survive the tribulation plagues, the indication is that The Millennial Reign will begin with many languages spoken, and at some point, will shift to only one language. Imagine how The Lord might reverse the confusion/division of languages He performed during The Tower of Babel experience. Might tribulation survivors suddenly start speaking the same language, or might this event only happen to their descendants born during the Millennial Reign? Ponder this: Cultures typically derive from languages. Societies, nations, and societal and national tensions similarly derive from cultures and languages. This includes RACISM! What might The Lord's 'one language policy' infer for racism during The Millennial Reign? Different nations, societies and cultures will clearly continue to exist, possibly except those referred to in Zechariah 12:9. For a thousand years, Israel, The Lord’s kinfolk, will receive preferential treatment. (See Isaiah 60 and elsewhere) Given human nature, that is guaranteed to trigger fierce jealousies, and eventually…another predicted, multi-national invasion after The Millennial Reign, per Revelation 20. The Lord will rule Earth with a ‘rod of iron’. This infers a forced peace, and forced righteousness. Is a forced peace … real peace? Also, forcing righteousness does not engender righteousness in people who are not inclined to such.
To you, what does this infer …strategically??
