THE KINGDOM OF THE THOUSAND YEARS
OR
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THOUSAND YEARS
By NATHANIEL WEST
FOREWORD
" ‘He [Jesus] said
to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart that you do NOT
believe ALL that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer
these things and then enter His glory'? And beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, he explained to them what was said in ALL the Scriptures concerning
himself," (Luke 24: 25-27).
"'This is what I told you while I was with you':
- [on the road to Emmaus] - 'Everything must be
fulfilled that is written about me in the
law of Moses, the Prophets, and the
Psalms'. Then he opened their minds so they could understand
the Scriptures,’ (Luke 24: 44, 45).
In
the Scriptures we find two distinct, contrasted, yet connected
experiences of Christ - sufferings and triumph. (1) "The Prophets testified beforehand the sufferings unto
Christ, and (2) the glories that should follow them" (1Peter 1: 11): (1) "Behoved
it not the Christ to suffer these things and (2)
enter into His Glory?" (Luke 24: 26).
This
double experience is seen very clearly in Psalm 22
and Isaiah 53, as well as in many other
places.
Two
things are certain.
(1)
That the predictions concerning the sufferings of Christ were fully
accomplished in Jesus of
Minutiae of Detail.
Over three hundred predictions about the Messiah are found in the
Old Testament. According to the law of compound probability, the chance
of their coming true is represented by a fraction whose numerator is one, and
the denominator eighty-four, followed by nearly one hundred ciphers! One
might almost as well expect by accident to dip up any one particular drop out
of the ocean as to expect so many prophetic rays to converge by chance upon one
man, in one place, at one time. God has put especially upon these prophecies as
to His Son the stamp of absolute verity and indisputable certainty, that we
may know Whom we have believed. Mistakes in so solemn a matter are fatal and
God meant that none should be possible.
(2)
But it is equally obvious that the accompanying and intertwined predictions of the triumph and glories of Christ, TO BE VISIBLE ON THIS
EARTH, have NOT been fulfilled. The Devil is not crushed and
Christ is not here glorified. Therefore, all those numerous
predictions which foretell this simultaneous triumph and defeat remain at
present unfulfilled, and the minute, exact, complete accomplishment of the
prophecies of His suffering are WARRANT- [What greater means of Official
Authorization can we have, other than THE WORD OF GOD?]- for
expecting the equally exact and complete fulfilment
of those of HIS GLORY AND REIGN, and of the overwhelming of the
Devil and his kingdom.
From
the standpoint of today it cannot be denied that the former have had a
complete, literal and accurate fulfilment; which is rational ground for
expecting that the latter will most certainly have a complete,
literal, accurate, fulfilment in His
It
is said that the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent's head, and that
the latter should bruise His heel. The Victor's heel has been bruised:
now we must wait for the appointed time, for the final and complete victory of
Christ over Satan and his kingdom, as a man conquers a serpent when he crushes
its head with his heel.
This, therefore is our theme, regarding those prophecies of His,
which have reference to His Millennial reign. "All of the problems
that are raised by the questions concerning the
G.
H. Lang.
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The
following are some of the characteristics of the 1,000 years, as Dr. West has tabulated them:-
1.
Satan, the Cause of all the World's Woe, shall,
together with his evil Angels, be imprisoned in the "abyss," chained, sealed, and locked up, beyond
the possibility of getting out, during the whole Millennial reign. His
power over man, and the nations, will be absolutely broken. ISAIAH 24: 21, 22;
27: 1; REVELATION 20: 1, 2. A
half week of years, previously to this, he has been dejected from heaven. REVELATION 12: 7-12.
2.
Antichrist's kingdom, overthrown
forever, and the kingdoms of this world
with it, shall never be revived, nor Antichrist and
his confederates ever reappear to dwell upon the earth. These, with
the False Prophet, are cast alive into the "lake
of fire." ISAIAH 24: 21, 22; REVELATION
19: 20; 20: 10.
3. There
shall be but One Kingdom, in that day, the
Kingdom of Christ, to which all the nations of earth shall be
obedient, a kingdom "under the whole heaven,"
from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. PSALM 2: 1-12: 72: 8; DANIEL 2: 44; 7: 27; NUMBERS 24:
17; REVELATION 11: 15; ZECHARIAH 14: 9; 11: 10.
4. There
shall be but One Religion, then, the Religion of Christ, alone.
Christianity shall be coextensive with the limits of the world. All false
religious systems, and corrupt forms of Christianity, shall have disappeared,
forever. ISAIAH 45: 23; 52: 1, 7-10; 66: 17, 23;
ZECHARIAH 14: 16; 8: 23; 9: 7; REVELATION 5: 9-14; ZEPHANIAH 3: 9; MALACHI 1:
11.
5.
All idols shall be destroyed, of whatever kind. A presage of this, in primary fulfilment, was
given at the First Advent, and is celebrated, not only in Plutarch's account of the "Cessation of the Heathen Oracles,"
but also in the choral strains of
6.
"All Israel" shall be holy to the Lord; and
this means, not the Christian Church, nor the Nations, but the Jewish people as such, the natural seed of Abraham. Their
apostasy will be finished, their sin sealed, their iniquity atoned, and
everlasting righteousness and holiness be brought in. DANIEL
9: 24; ISAIAH 26: 2; DEUTERONOMY 30: 6; ISAIAH 60: 21; JEREMIAH 3: 17; 50: 20;
EZEKIEL 36: 25-27; 37: 23, 24; ZEPHANIAH 3: 13; REVELATION 14: 1-5; ZECHARIAH
14: 20; ISAIAH 54: 13, 14.
7.
War shall exist no more. This
result of the Binding of Satan, who is the instigator of all war, and cause of
all national and international collision, continues throughout the whole Millennial age. The proof that Satan is not bound,
now, is (a) the fact of "War," in the present age, and (b) the fact that
when loosed for a "little season," at the end of this age - i.e., the millennial
age (Rev. 20: 7), - his first effort is to
excite the nations to "War," and (c) to war against the Kingdom of
Christ. In the Millennial age, however, all is peace, not only between
man and man, but also between the Nations. ISAIAH
2: 4; 9: 5; MICAH 4: 3, 4; HOSEA 2: 20; ZECHARIAH 9: 10; EZEKIEL 39: 9, 10;
REVELATION 20: 1-3.
8.
Harmony shall be restored in creation, between man and man, and a
covenant of peace be made between man and the lower
animal world. This also is a result of the Binding of Satan, who
first entered a Serpent to practice his arts on mankind. ISAIAH 11: 6-9;
65: 25; HOSEA 2: 20; EZEKIEL 34: 25, 28; MICAH 4: 3.
9. The land of Israel shall be transformed from barrenness into beauty,
and made fruitful, glorious, and free from plague, and populated by a happy and
blessed people; the people to whom, by right, it belongs. ISAIAH 35: 1; 41:
18, 19; AMOS 9: 13-15; ISAIAH 55: 17-25; ZECHARIAH 8: 3-8.
10.
Patriarchal years will return, in which a man, 100 years old, shall be
esteemed a child. Instead of saying, as we now do, that such a one has
entered his "teens," it will
be said that such a one has just entered his "hundreds."
ISAIAH 65: 20-22. The risen saints "neither marry, nor are given in marriage." MATTHEW 22: 30; but the un-glorified are a "blessed seed, and their offspring with them." ISAIAH 65: 23.
11.
Israel and Judah, or 12-tribed
12.
Jerusalem and Mount Zion, by means of physical convulsion and geological
changes suddenly effected through disruption, depression, fissure, and
elevation, at the Lord's appearing, shall be "exalted"
or "lifted high," above the
surrounding hills, and the adjacent region be reduced "to a plain," like the Arabal,
or Ghor, that runs from the slopes of Hermon to the Red Sea. "All the land
will change itself," and the geographic centre of the
reconstruction will be determined by the boundaries of the ancient
13.
The City itself shall be built again, broadened, enlarged, and adorned with the
wealth of the nations, and the
14.
The "Outcast of Israel" and "Despised of Judah," gathered to enter the
Kingdom, will return to their fatherland, from the East, the West, the North,
and the South, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, conducted
thither by Gentile hands, and presented, as a holy Mincha or Offering, to the Lord
Himself, revealed in His glory. Auxiliary to this great Ingathering of the
Hebrew people, the River of Egypt, the Nile, shall be divided and dried up, and
the River Euphrates also, to make way for the march of Israel returning under
the protection of Eastern princes. A high road, moreover, out of
(* The valley of Jezreel
or Valley of Megiddo, is the World-famed Plain of Esdraelon,
where Barak defeated Sesera,
and young Josiah and the Hebrew Theocracy fell together before the might of
Pharaoh-Necho. It stretches from Scythopolis
to
15.
Ten men, of all nations, that is, a large number, - in token of their
recognition of what the Lord in His glory does for the Jew in the hour of his
final deliverance, will "take hold of the skirt of
a Jew," then honoured
beyond all others, and, detaining his step, beseech his favour, as he moves to
the Holy City. The wiping away of the rebuke and reproach of
16.
A Perennial Stream of living water shall flow from the Temple-Rock toward the
Mediterranean and
17.
A Re-distribution and Division of the Holy Land shall be made according to the
12 tribes of
18.
There will be a Cessation of Sorrow, Tears, and Death, for God's people in that
age. Although Sin and Death still exist, yet nowhere do we read that
God's people are subject to the same. Elsewhere existing, though not reigning as
now, yet among God's people these things never come. ISAIAH 25: 6-9; 26:
1-4; 35: 10. The universality of
this exemption is reserved for the final New Heaven and Earth. REVELATION 21: 1-4.
19.
There will be a Sevenfold Fulness and Increase of Light, Solar and Lunar, in
that day, when parted
20.
There shall be a Restoration of Samaria,
21.
A Yearly Concourse of people, from all nations, shall go to
22.
23.
The Jewish people and their Land, long divorced and desolate, shall be
remarried with grand solemnities, as a New Bride to the Lord, over which He
will joy with singing, and rest in His Love. ISAIAH 62: 1-12;
ZEPHANIAH 3: 15-17; REVELATION 19: 7-9; 20: 9; HOSEA 2: 9.
24. The faithful dead of
25.
Not only shall the 12 Apostles sit on their thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel, and the martyrs of Jesus bear eminent rule, but the vast
multitudes of those - ["Accounted worthy," Luke
20: 35] - who have fallen asleep in
Christ, in all ages, shall awake to share the joy, and with those
who are "changed," enter the glorious
kingdom of God, and live and reign with
Christ, 1,000 years. The Church
above and below shall be ONE. The Heavenly and Earthly Bride
shall be one. MATTHEW 19: 28, 29; REVELATION 20: 4-6; REVELATION 11:
18; 1CORINTHIANS 15: 23; 1THESSALONIANS 4: 13-18; LUKE 12: 35-37.
26.
Around the Land of Israel thus glorious, and the Holy City, now the light of
the world, because of the glory of Christ, within it and on it, the Nations of
earth shall dwell in obedient and willing submission, and, blessed in Abraham's
seed, and free from Satanic dominion, enjoy the Millennial Age of
righteousness, peace and rest. PSALM 72: 6-20; ISAIAH 61: 11; 66: 8-12; ZEPHANIAH 3: 9;
ISAIAH 19: 18, 23-25; PSALM 96: 7-10; 97: 1; 98: 1, 2; 89: 15-17; DEUTERONOMY
32: 43; REVELATION 15: 4; ZECHARIAH 14: 16. Here apply a vast number of the Messianic
Psalms.
Such
are the main features of the [Millennial] Kingdom that comes at the close of the last 1260
days of the 70th week of Daniel, the same 1260 days that we find in the
Apocalypse of John. It is the work of Him who is "the Lion of the
tribe of Judah," "the Root and
Offspring of David," who has "the key
of David," - ["who holds the keys of Death and Hades"]
- and whose name is "the Bright and Morning Star,"
the "Star out of Jacob," "the Lamb," who alone has "prevailed to open the Seals," and disclose the
future of Israel, the Nations, and the Church.
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MODE OF LIFE AMONG THE RESURRECTED
By Nathaniel West
As
to the mode of intercourse between the glorified and un-glorified, there are
many vain speculations. We only "know in
part," and time will bring the answer to our various askings. The whole discussion binds itself to our
conceptions of the Resurrection-Body, - what it needs and what its functions,
are. From the very first, the Jewish
teachers were embarrassed here, and much divided in their views. The later Jews are not more
clear. Saadias
and Maimonides
maintained that "they who rise in the resurrection, eat, drink and marry,
and their bodily members serve them, for these are not in vain and they die
again," (Eisenmenger. Eut. Jud. 11. 943.) It was an
ancient view, and founded on the cases of the resurrection of the son of the Shunamite, and the son of the widow of Zarepta,
"both women," says Saadias, "ate and drank and doubtless took wives." On the other hand, Bechai and Abarbanel maintained that "they who rise in the resurrection neither eat, nor drink,
nor marry, for there is no further need of these, after the resurrection, nor
do the risen righteous ones return to dust again. They have their
bodies, in which the fleshly functions have ceased, as in the case of Moses,
when in the Mount with God." (Ibid 495.)
Our Lord corrects both these views
when, confronting the Sadducees, He replies that "they
who shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world (Olam Habba) and the resurrection out
from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, neither can they die
any more; for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of
God, being sons of the Resurrection." Luke 20: 35,36. Saadias and Ben Maimon
said that the risen "eat, drink, marry, die."
Bechai, Abarbanel,
Talmud and Cabbala, aver they "neither eat, drink, marry,
nor die." Our
Lord declares they "neither marry nor are given in marriage, neither can they die
any more," but says
nothing as to the "eating" or "drinking." What He
teaches is that the children of the resurrection are as the sexless angels.
Beyond the fact that Lazarus ate after his resurrection, John 12: 1, 2, remains the fact that the Lord Himself, after His resurrection,
had a tangible and visible material body, already free from the limitations of
His former humiliation, and possessed of resurrection-life, and yet "ate" food in Jerusalem
and at the shore of Galilee, Luke 24: 30, 41,
42, John 21: 12, and not only promised to the Twelve to "drink of the fruit of the
vine, new in the kingdom of God," Matthew
26: 29, but appointed them "a Kingdom," in
which, said He, "ye may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and sit on 12 thrones
judging the 12 tribes of Israel." Luke
22: 29, 30. We can grossly carnalise
this, on the one hand, and ethereally spiritualise it on the other. The fact remains that the
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