CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM
The
coming day will be a day of great
reversals. "Our God shall come and shall not keep silence." The great powers will be humbled and Israel,
now despised, will be exalted. The
mighty cities of the world will be levelled to the dust, and Jerusalem will become "the, joy of the whole earth." Clearly the [Millennial] Kingdom will have two sides, the earthly and the heavenly, running their course
contemporaneously, like the overhead and low level lines of the same
railway system, but Christ will be King of them both.
Those
who [are resurrected from the dead, and rapt
from amongst the living, will] partake of the
heavenly calling [and]
will enjoy heavenly glory, but
flesh and blood will not partake of it.
The earthly saints - [i.e., those who
will be born and converted during the kingdom age]
- will come into the earthly inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed,* and
in this, as we have seen, flesh and blood can take part. It is this latter aspect, of things that we
have chiefly here before us. Necessarily
a very brief statement must suffice, otherwise the
whole prophetic word must pass in review.
[* Better to have said, Abrahams
seed instead of Abraham and his seed because
Abraham will be resurrected from the dead, and must therefore enjoy heavenly glory as well as his promised earthly
inheritance in the land of Canaan during the Millennium. Gen. 15: 5, 7; 17: 8; Jas. 2: 21, 22. cf. Matt. 5: 20; 7: 21; Luke 20: 36.]
1. The first characteristic of
the world to come will be
The Presence of the King.
That
our Lord will be once more in this scene in person may seem strange, but it is
certain. Men try and evade the plain
meaning of words, or postpone indefinitely their fulfilment, but the words of
the heavenly messengers could not be more precise. "This same Jesus
... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen
Him go into Heaven."
He
went personally, visibly, suddenly. He
will return personally, visibly, suddenly.
His feet left the Mount of Olives when
He ascended to heaven. His feet will stand on that self-same Mount when He
returns. This will be not, as some
teach, at the end of man's millennium, when the world will have become such a
paradise without Him as to constrain Him to return, but before the millennium when all nations shall mourn because of His
return. "Every eye shall see Him, and they
also which pierced Him" (Rev. 1: 7).
His personal presence is needed and it is assured. "I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no
more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." (Ezek. 21: 27).
His glory will then be
manifested, He will come to reign. Not that He will of necessity be
continuously on the earth. He will
reign over as well as on it.* But communication will once more be established
between heaven and earth. The true
Jacob's ladder will be set up and "the angels of
God will be seen ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." He will be the centre. His glory, His mighty deeds, His divine
wisdom will fill the earth. His dominion
will stretch from sea to sea. To Him all
kings shall bow and gifts. All nations
shall serve Him and daily shall He be praised.
[* Here
is a truth seldom heard today. All
"accounted worthy" to be
given authority to reign at that time will be "like the angels". That is, able to rule in
both heavenly and
earthly
spheres of the coming Kingdom: Luke 20: 36.]
The Sphere of Rewards.
All
the saints will share in it, but not all will have the same place, rank, reward
or responsibility.* Some will be nearer the person of
the King. Some will have a larger
sphere. The difference between the
parables of the talents and the pounds may be that, in the first (Matt. 25) it is a question of gift and
ability. These vary with the individual,
but all men, saved and unsaved alike, have gifts for which they will be held
responsible. A Balaam, a Judas, a Caiaphas may have gifts
as well as a Peter, a John, or a Paul.
In the parable of the pounds, it is a question of what only children of
God have, the power to serve Him which grace
confers. In this sense we are
exhorted "not
to receive the grace of God in vain." The man who hid his pound lost his
pound. The man who hid his talent lost his soul.** Some will have ten cities, others five
according to faithfulness. The rewards
will have been allotted "at the resurrection of
the just" before the judgment seat of Christ, but will be
enjoyed in the Kingdom. The first
resurrection will extend over a period.
Christ, "the first fruits," the
saints who rose immediately after Him form, I judge, a first part of it, then
also those who will awake from sleep when He comes and rise to meet Him in the
air, and, lastly, the martyred saints of the last great tribulation. (Rev. 20). "This is the
first resurrection," as if the apostle would say, "Up to this
is the first resurrection." Then all will pass in review: Mary's ointment,
Doreas' garments, Epaphras'
prayers, Paul's testimony, and all other life and service for the Lord. The apostles will have a special reward, they
will sit on twelve thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Matt. 19: 28). Some will
have so run so as to obtain the incorruptible crown. To those who faithfully
endure, will be assigned a crown of life; to those who love His appearing a
crown of righteousness. A crown
of glory awaits faithful pastors of the flock of Christ (1 Pet. 5: 4), a crown of rejoicing, those who have
won souls for Christ (1 Thess.
2: 19).
[* The writer, like
multitudes of Bible Teachers today, believes all the saints will have a share in it. In other words, all the saints will have an inheritance
in the Kingdom! The Holy Spirit teaches the
contrary. Gods warnings of a possible
loss of the millennial inheritance, are
addressed
to His saints, Matt. 5: 20; 7: 21; Luke 20:
35; Eph. 5: 5, 6; Gal. 5: 19-21; Revelation chapters 2. & 3; 11: 18; 20: 6. etc. The writer has ignored the warnings, applied
them to the unregenerate or misinterpreted them!
"Ye YOURSELVES do wrong, and
defraud, and that [to] your
brethren. Or know ye
not that WRONG-DOERS - the same word
without the article shall NOT INHERIT
THE KINGDOM OF GOD? And such were some of you; but ye WERE washed,
but ye WERE sanctified, but ye WERE justified (1 Cor. 6: 11). Return not, says the Spirit, as a sow to her wallowing. (Panton). We
must not forget that Gods saints are rewarded for their
disobedience as well as their obedience.
God cannot be mocked, nor can He ignore evil behaviour, and reward all
of His redeemed people the same way! Some will be accounted
worthy to inherit the kingdom, others will not. Those at Corinth CALLED SAINTS" (1
Cor. 1: 2) were "washed", "sanctified" and "justified at the time of their conversion, but
in
later life, at the time of Pauls epistle, they had fallen into sin and
disobedience. Here then is the threatened
justice of God against such. If his
saints sin (wilfully), they shall not go
unpunished, (Govett). Furthermore, it is "The Kingdom Of God"
which the unrepentant, and persistent offenders will not inherit,
not the heavenly sphere of that Kingdom, as Brother Hoste and many others erroneously teach.
** The man who hid his talent lost
his soul. What can we
say about this? What is the salvation of souls (1 Pet. 1: 9)?
Will that servant who hid his talent be eternally lost? No. He
will not, but he will not have attained unto that future salvation, which
Peter says will be REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME; and which he described as the goal of your faith, (verses 5, 9), at the time when Jesus Christ is REVEALED
(verse 13).
Surely this future salvation has to do
with both resurrection and translation into the coming kingdom of Messiah; when
the gates of Hades will not overcome the souls
of the dead (at that time, [Luke 14: 14; Heb. 11:
35b]); and the watchful and left living will be translated into heaven, before
and after the Great Tribulation. Matt.
16: 18; Luke 21: 36; 1 Thess. 4: 17.]
3. THE KINGDOM WILL BE
A Time of Universal Peace and
Prosperity.
The
promise of Isaiah will at length be fulfilled.
"They will beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2: 4).
But this will not be as the result of Hague conferences or Arbitration treaties,
but by the coming of Him "who maketh
wars to cease unto the ends of the earth." But He will "make
desolations" first. War from
heaven will alone end war on earth.
Before swords become ploughshares, ploughshares will have become swords.
(See Joel 3: 10). The guiltiest battle ever fought will be
waged when Christ returns. Man will have
set himself to measure swords with God.
It will be the strangest battle too, for the first act in it will be the
summary judgment of the two great rebel leaders, and the last the total
annihilation of their great world hosts. Then the groaning creation shall enter into rest. [Rom. 8: 19, 21.] "The wolf shall
lie down with the lamb ... and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox."
Humanity will be relieved of its two most crushing burdens, sacerdotal
religions and standing armies, and the wasted energies of men will be turned
into other channels. The desert and
neglected places of the earth, the dark wastes of Africa, the un-ploughed
prairie lands of America,
the vast virgin plains of Asia and Australia will be turned to profit.
"The wilderness shall be glad and the desert shall
blossom as the rose." No
doubt this will apply in a special sense to the great desert lands between the
Jordan and the Euphrates which are destined to form part of Emmanuel's land, a
great triangle nearly as large as India, south of Calcutta and Bombay, but all
lands will share in the blessing (Gen. 15: 18;
Dent. 11: 24). "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river
unto the ends of the earth. ... His name shall
endure for ever all nations shall call Him blessed."
4. THE KINGDOM WILL BE
A Reign of Righteousness.
"A king shall reign in righteousness." This could not possibly have been had an
impenitent Israel
crowned Him King. The same blood that
bought redemption, purchased the inheritance. The Lord will reign by undisputed right. The passages quoted above show that the idea
that millennial blessing will be almost limited to Israel, while the rest of the nations
lie in a chronic state of seething rebellion is an entire exaggeration. But if men do rebel they will find the rod
that rules them a rod of iron. To-day
men's sins are not imputed in the sense of being summarily dealt with, but then
a universal "Habeas Corpus Act " will be in force. "I will early
destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from
the city of the Lord" (Psa. 101). The
opening scenes of the Kingdom will be of judgment - of the Twelve Tribes and of
the living nations of the Roman earth and Christendom generally, whose armies
will have been slain by the Lord at His return, but during the progress of the
millennial reign, immediate judgment, when called for, will at once be meted
out. Open evil will no longer be
tolerated. The Lord will rule in the
midst of His enemies. His rule will be a
blessing to the righteous, a scourge to the wicked. Wrongs will be righted, abuses abolished,
every transgression and disobedience "will receive
at once a just recompense of reward."
5. THE KINGDOM WILL BE MARKED BY
The Absence of Satan.
As
soon as the Man of Sin and Anti-Christ have been consigned to the lake of fire,
and their hosts slain, Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit [the Abyss, see (Rev. 9: 1)] for a
thousand years, "that he should deceive the
nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled" (Rev. 20: 3). That there should be no doubt of the identity
of this awful person, he is called here by his four names, "the dragon," the first person of the Great Triad
of evil; "that old serpent," the
original seducer of the race; "the devil,"
the accuser of the brethren; and "Satan,"
the great adversary of God and man. Doubtless
in the name Satan is here included his angels, demons and evil spirits, for
they could not be allowed liberty while he is bound. All will be shut up with him, and the world
delivered for a thousand years from every Satanic influence (Isa. 2: 21-23). The bottomless pit, or abyss, must not be
confounded with Gehenna. From this last there is no exit possible. From the abyss there is (see Rev. 11: 7,
and Rev. 20: 7). Accordingly, at the end of the Millennium,
Satan will be let loose for a season, to prove that a thousand years in prison
will not change him, nor a thousand years of Kingdom glory convert man. Except Israel, and the saved from among the
nations of Christendom (Matt. 25), all will
have a sinful nature, and will certainly have to experience temptations from
within, but all Satanic excitement from without will be suppressed. To live in a powder magazine cannot be
pleasant at the best of times, how much less when under an enemy's fire? How great the relief were this to be silenced;
so too the relief will be immense when the great enemy will be no longer able
to harass mankind. When, however, the
final test comes, and Satan is set free to deceive the nations, vast numbers,
"as the sand of the sea shore for multitude,"
will flock to his standard, proving, as has already been said, that man apart
from the grace of God is incorrigible. A
deluge of fire from heaven will destroy them, and the devil will be cast into
the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 22).
6. THE KINGDOM WILL BE
CHARACTERISED BY
The Universal Knowledge of God.
When
the sun is shining in its strength it needs neither wit nor grace to see it. When Christ shall appear in
glory, "the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11: 9), or, as Habakkuk has it "with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord."
This
can never be true before the Lord comes, nor will it even then imply universal
conversion. Not all will be savingly converted, as we have just seen. As for Israel, all who survive the last
great tribulation will be convicted and converted by the coming of Christ (Zech. 11). "And so
all Israel
shall be saved" (Romans 11: 26).
Of
course, this only refers to those who will be alive when the "Deliverer shall come out of Sion
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." These will experience the blessing of the new
covenant to be made with them after these days. "I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;
and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all
know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember
their sin no more" (Jer. 31: 33). I
have quoted here in full to show that this is no promise of universal blessing
to the nations of the world, much less of universal salvation in the eternal
state, as has been perversely put forth, but only of national blessing to
Israel, with whom alone the covenant is made, and of whom alone it is said,
"Thy people shall be all righteous." (Isa. 60: 21). And
they will continue so, for they will receive a blessing unknown before in any
dispensation, not only cleansing from their sins but "a new heart;" God will 'take
away the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,'
and Jehovah adds, "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My
statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them." Thus they will be sustained by divine power in
the path of obedience and holiness, both they and their children; for it is
written, "All thy children shall be taught of the
Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isa. 51: 13). Besides
this, "The inhabitant (i.e., of Jerusalem) shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein
shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isa. 33: 21),
"neither can they [the
resurrected] die any
more for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the
children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:
36). This not only applies to
those who will be raised, but to those who will "be
counted worthy to obtain that world [age]," i.e., the
Millennial
Kingdom. This also applies to those of the nations who
are acquitted and blessed at the judgment of nations. They are "the
blessed of the Father," and so will "enter
the Kingdom," or go "into life eternal"
(Matt. 25: 46). They too, no doubt, will have a physical and
spiritual constitution suitable to their new condition, and will be sustained
in holiness and blessing throughout the Millennium. Who then will be those who will join in the
post-millennium rebellion? Whence will
they come? I believe they will belong to
other and outside nations who will not be on trial at the Judgment of the
nations, just referred to (Matt. 25). I think, for various reasons, that those
present there will be, "all the nations"
of Christendom, but not all the nations of the globe. How could such countries as Tibet, Patagonia, the Sudan
be judged according to their treatment of Israelities,
in the absence of such among them? No
doubt the whole world will have sorely felt the Apocalyptic judgments, but the
direct effects of the final catastrophies will fall on the countries of
Christendom, and, when these latter are once and for all dealt with, it would
seem that large portions of the nations of the earth will be allowed to
continue. Otherwise, how understand such
an expression as "As concerning the rest of the
beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for
a season and time" (Daniel 7: 12),
for this follows immediately on the destruction of the fourth empire? How else explain the fact noted in Isaiah 19: 24,
that nations will exist as such in these latter times? "In that day
shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the
midst of the land," or the statement in the last chapter of Isaiah,
already referred to that one of the privileges of Israel in the Millennium will
be the carrying of the news of the glory of God to Tarshish,
Pul and Lud, "and to the isles afar off that have not heard My fame,
neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles"
(Isa. 66: 19). In the previous verse we read, "I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come
and see My glory." Who are these nations that will not have seen
His glory? Who are those kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, who will bring presents, those
kings of Sheba
and Zeba that shall offer gifts? (Psalm 72: 10). Who are those families of the earth who are
threatened with judgment if they do not come up to Jerusalem to the feast of Tabernacles? Who are the heathen whom the Lord will rule
with a rod of iron? Who else but the
spared nations of Asia, Africa, and the isles of the sea, who will not be held
responsible as the nations of Christendom will, for positive rejection of the
grace of God, and for determined rebellion against His Holy One? No doubt untold millions of these nations will
be saved through the testimony of Israel,
but the mass will remain unregenerate, and they will be ready to join Satan in
his last desperate onslaught on the saints and the Beloved City.
The inhabitants of the millennial earth
may thus be divided into three classes. The
saved of Israel; the spared
of those nations of Christendom who came against Jerusalem (Zech.
14: 16); and the surviving outside nations, called in Zechariah 14: 17, "the
families of the earth." The
first two classes, as we have seen, will all be saved. The third class may again be subdivided, from
a spiritual point of view, into three divisions:-
Those who turn to the Lord and are savingly
converted; those who are openly rebellious and are summarily dealt with during
the course of the millennial reign; and, perhaps the largest class of all,
those who "yield feigned obedience" (Psa. 66: 3, margin), and who will only be manifested
in their true character when Satan is loosed.
7. THE KINGDOM WILL BE
DISTINGUISHED BY
The Hegemony of Israel.
Amid
the clashing rivalries of the Great Powers, the idea of hegemony, or world
leadership, though usually unexpressed, occupies no small place in the thoughts
of men. The question will be settled in
an unexpected way. The coming King will
"turn the world upside down." Israel, now scattered and
downtrodden, will be head, the proud nations of the
earth will be tail (Dent. 28:13). The old order will give place to the new. Israel will be the masters and
"strangers shall stand and feed their flocks and
be their vinedressers" (see Isa. 61: 5).
"The nations and the Kingdom that will not serve
thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. 60: 12).
Israel in the Land.
Before
the Kingdom is set up, yea, even before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord
come, Israel
will have been restored in part to their own land, as we see from the prophecy
of Joel. They will be at first in a
general condition of backsliding from Jehovah, but the menace of the northern
army (Gog and Magog, of Ezekiel 38: 2), and a call from God, will bring
them to repentance. A great revival will
take place. God will intervene in power
to destroy the Northern army, and grant a period of unexampled material
prosperity, 'restoring to them the years that the
cankerworm hath eaten.' But a
greater blessing than this awaits them. A
great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, compared to which the experiences of
Pentecost will be but as the droppings, will be shed forth on the Lord's
servants in view of a world wide testimony, and all this before the Great and
Terrible Day of the Lord (Joel 2). This solemn day will be immediately preceded
by the gathering together of the nations of the Roman empire
against Jerusalem
(Joel 3), which will be delivered, in its
last extremity, by the Personal advent of Jehovah. Him the spared remnant will recognise as the
Man of Calvary and their Messiah. Full
acknowledgment of their guilt (Zech. 11)
will lead to full cleansing (Zech. 12), and
full restoration to Jehovah (Isa. 12). Though
unfaithful to Him in the past, and as a woman divorced, Israel will be
married to Him again. "The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the
Mighty God" (Isa. 10: 21). "They
shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King whom I will raise up unto
them" (Jer. 30, 9), and "out of
them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry"
(Jer. 30: 19). To
them the Lord shall say, "Thy people also shall be
all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever" (Isa. 60: 21).
Israel Restored.
There
will be beside a general gathering and restoration of the scattered flock of Israel.
The Lord will seek for His people as a
shepherd, "and will deliver them out of all places
where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." "It shall come to
pass in that day, that the Lord
shall set His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt ...
And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts
of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of
the earth" (Isa. 11: 11-12). "The Lord God
which gathereth the outcasts of Israel
saith, yet will I gather others to Him, besides those that are gathered unto
Him" (see Isa. 49.; 56: 8). Miraculous
events will accompany their restoration, the tongue of the Egyptian sea will be
dried up, and the river smitten in, or unto, the seven streams (Isa. 11: 15; Rev. 16: 12). This drying up of the Euphrates is generally
taken to mean the drying up of the Turkish empire. Does,
then, the destruction of the Egyptian sea mean the destruction of Egypt?
Surely it ought to, to be consistent. But we know that blessing is reserved for Egypt
(Isa. 19: 21-25). Why not take "the
sea" and "the river" to
mean what they say and believe that they will be, at least temporarily in the
case of the Euphrates, dried up to facilitate the return of Israel from the
South and from the East? Then will be
fulfilled the words of the prophet, "The ransomed
of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion
with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sighing and sorrow shall flee away" (Isa. 35: 10).
Jerusalem Rebuilt.
Then
will Jerusalem
be rebuilt on a new and magnificent scale. Jerusalem
"shall be builded upon her own heap" (Jer. 30: 18). "The sons
of the strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto
thee" (Isa. 60: 10). And
Jerusalem shall
have a new name, "'Jehovah-Shammah'
the Lord is there." (Ezek. 48: 35).
"The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the
fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my
sanctuary" (Isa. 60: 13). Not only will the city be rebuilt but the
temple also, after the pattern shown to Ezekiel 2,500 years before (Ezek. chs. 40: 44). And the land shall be divided to the Twelve
Tribes on a new plan (Ezek. 48), Israel and Judah shall no longer be separated
kingdoms but one people. "I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of
Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel
his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand. ... And I will make them one nation in the land upon the
mountains of Israel;
and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations,
neither shall they be divided into two Kingdoms any more at all" (Ezek. 37: 19-22). "Ephraim shall
not envy Judah, and Judah
shall not vex Ephraim" (Isa. 11, 13). They
shall be for ever delivered from the abomination of idolatry (Ezek. 37: 23). And shall become indeed, and
in truth according to the purpose of Jehovah "a
Kingdom of priests" unto Him. (See Ex.
19: 6). "Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you
Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their
glory shall ye boast yourselves" (Isa. 61: 6).
For then it will be, as we have already
seen, that Jehovah will make with them His new covenant (Jer. 31: 31),
an everlasting covenant (Jer. 32: 40), as enduring and constant as the Noachian covenant of the day and night (Jer. 33: 20).
Sacrifices Restored.
The
sacrifices will be restored in a commemorative sense, not pointing forward like
the sacrifices of old, as figures of that which was to come, but looking back,
as the symbols of the Lord's Supper do*, to that which has been already
perfectly done once and for all. "Neither shall the priests and the Levites want a man before
Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice
continually," and besides, Israel will be as we have seen God's
witnesses to a renovated world (Isa. 66: 19). Thus
will Jerusalem
become in very deed "The joy of the whole earth,"
the religious and political centre of all the nations. "All nations
shall flow unto it. And many people
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 ... for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." The centre of all will be Him whose ,name
shall be called "Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty
God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace " - Jehovah
Jesus. "They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the
Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord,
to Jerusalem"
(Jer. 3: 17). And
if they will not come they will be judged without mercy (Zech. 14). Thus
will Israel
at last be what God intended her to become, His channel of blessing to those of
the nations who love her. Such are
accordingly called to rejoice in the blessing of His people. "Rejoice ye with
Jerusalem, and be glad ... that ye may suck, and
be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be
delighted with the abundance of her glory ... ye
shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees" (Isa. 66: 10-12). "In that day there shall be a root of
Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles
seek: and his rest shall be glorious."
(Isa. 11: 10). "All the ends of
the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before thee.
For the Kingdom is the Lord's;
and He is the Governor among the nations. ... A seed shall serve Him; it shall be
accounted to the Lord for a generation. They
shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that HE HATH DONE THIS."
[* The Lords Supper also looks forward to the
time of the Millennium: I will not drink again of
the fruit of the vine UNTIL THAT DAY when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God, (Mark 14: 25; 2 Pet. 3: 8).]
-------