Gospel Light
In my previous article, we looked at Peter's hyperbole of a thousand years as a day to God and considered it a Sabbath rest for the earth. According to Bible Geonoligies, the world is 6,000 years old. If the Lord were to come soon, His reign would give the world a sabbath rest.
Let us then consider what the world will be like during Christ's Millenial reign. In Isaiah 2:2-4, we read, "Now it will come about in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go out from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war."
How do we know Isaiah is speaking about the Millenial kingdom? Well, at present, Jerusalem is 2,474' high, and the highest mountain is Everest at 29,028' high. Cataclysmic events will change the earth's surface typography so that Mount Zion will become the chief, the head, from Amharic, hence a heightened place. It will be raised, and by comparison, other high sites will be as hills. We are told in Revelation 16:20, "And every island fled, and no mountains were found." Some want to turn the events of 70 A.D. into the horrific events of Revelation. When did it happen that no mountains can be found?
The nations will stream to Jerusalem; the people so hated for so long will become loved by the world of that time. The world's culture will change, and they will say, "Let's go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths." A world once set against God will rest from their hatred of God until the end of a thousand years.
The law of God, increasingly rejected for so long a time, will be accepted by people, partly changed by revival as the Holy Spirit descends upon the people and saves many and upon others who will go along with the culture of those days. Many people will remain sheep following what they don't know, but there will be peace and safety worldwide.
The Sabbath rest has come to the people, who will no longer follow false prophets, preachers, or teachers, but the Lord, through His people, will be at the center of worship. False religions will no longer be permitted; Jesus Christ will be worshipped and Him alone. Just think what that will do for the world, even if it is only external in many. "And He will judge between the nations and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war." There will be unbroken peace for a thousand years.
Compared to our present world, the prophecy of Isaiah makes the millennium seem like the doorway to heaven.
The worst part of the Ammillenialist or preterist view is its hatred of the Jews. I love Martin Luther, a man greatly used by God to re-establish the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the people. However, his view of the Jewish people was not God-honoring, and I quote from On the Jews and their Lies. "What shall the Christian do with this rejected and condemned people..." After saying no vengeance should be taken, he does a 180, and makes those words of no effect, and writes, " First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so no man will ever again see a cinder or stone of them." Such hatred of men should never come forth from the Christians's lips.
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